The Art of Doing Nothing

There's a viral post that made the rounds so much, the folks at SNL turned it into a funny skit.  You know the one, right?  The dogs attending a play?  The original post was for service dogs in training and was created to help people understand all the diverse training that goes into raising a service dog (here's one link to the original story: https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/20/us/service-dogs-theater-canada-trnd). The SNL skit just made the dogs look really judgy of bad theater, but I digress.  I do have a point, so bear with me! (And if you didn't see the SNL skit, here's a link to that as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndxq_YqBMVs).

Among the many skills taught to service animals in training is the ability to sit or lay down quietly awake, and do absolutely nothing. Not chew on a bone, not demand attention, not try to engage anyone else around them.  Just. Do. Nothing.  It's a skill indeed. Many a dog, even those in service animal programs, have a hard time doing nothing; and if they are doing nothing, they actually nod off!  

So, what does this have to do with the rest of us who simply own companion dogs? Well, I'm glad you asked!  You see, I think the art of doing nothing is something really important and worth teaching to all of our dogs, from the time that they are puppies.  To be able to sit or rest quietly, without chewing on a bone, being petted, or demanding constant interaction takes practice.  Some dogs will have the right temperament or personality to master this skill quickly, while others may never quite get there.  Desi was a dog who clearly understood the art of doing nothing. I could take him anywhere, and he'd just sit or plop down and rest, watching the world go by. Now Desi also was a fan of nodding off while doing nothing, but since he wasn't a service animal, I cut him some slack.  If I reached down to pet him, he'd give me some love, and then go right back to resting quietly. Many a restaurant waiter was surprised to find out that I even had a dog at my table when Desi was there.  Ozzie is a different story. He's always been very vigilant in public spaces; he'll sit or lay down near me, but if I shift my weight, or someone walks past us, or any loud noise occurs, he's back up, oriented toward the disturbance, and often with a chuff or bark if he's really taken offense.  

Because of the huge difference between Ozzie and Desi and their ability to do absolutely nothing in a public space, I started with Henley from the moment I brought him home.  I took that puppy everywhere, starting with treats and activities to keep him busy on a mat at my feet, and working up to the point where now, at 2 years old, he can sit or lay next to me in public with minimal interaction. He's not quite at Desi's level, but he's way better than Ozzie. 

Now that my daughter has Zelly, I've begun working with her on this skill as well. For a dog registered as a person's emotional support animal, Zelly will need to master the art of doing nothing. She will need to be able to do absolutely nothing in my daughter's office, during client meetings, and at conferences, for example.  She's still a puppy, so right now we are focusing on her being able to do nothing happily in her crate and while tethered, for short periods of time.  We will build up the length of time she can do nothing AND the different situations she's able to succeed at doing nothing in. 

I encourage all of you to test your dog's ability to do absolutely nothing and still remain awake!  If you take them to work with you or to run errands, see if they can rest quietly, eyes open, and not need reinforcement from you.  And while you're at it, see if you, too, can master this skill.  It's a hard one! Most of us are constantly moving and doing and talking and engaging.  We rarely just do nothing.  Try it. It's good for you.  Take deep breaths.  Close your eyes (but stay awake!).  Focus on enjoying just being present.  It can be really rewarding to do absolutely nothing.  Trust me.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

Here's Henley at a neighborhood block party event.  I'm in a chair and he's resting quietly, still awake, near my feet.  He was able to do this for about 45 minutes before he got up, stretched, and wanted attention.  Not bad for a "non-service" dog!

Toys and Bones and Chews, Oh My!

I met with new clients this week who have an adolescent Husky.  He's a delightfully active dog, who bores easily and can destroy just about any toy in under a minute flat.  I get it.  I've never had a collie who could destroy a toy faster than Henley.  We had the same three toy boxes, filled to the brim with a variety of toys, from the time Pearl joined our family in 2014 until Henley arrived in 2023.  He arrived, and like a Tasmanian devil on a bender, he proceeded to destroy so many toys, I was able to downsize to two toy boxes in less than a month! Desi, Ozzie, and Westley couldn't keep up as they watched all of the toys being thrown around, dismantled, and then tossed in the trash for safety reasons. I set aside a few of their favorites so that Henley couldn't destroy them, but beyond that, toys are to be used, one way or another.  Now that Zelly is at my house a couple of days a week, I'm seeing a resurgence in interest in the two toy boxes.  Henley still plays with toys all the time, and yes he's still destructive, just not as bad as when he was a puppy. These two smooths together, however, are currently giving Ozzie a run for his money!  I have once again pulled his favorites out of the toy boxes and I'm letting Zelly and Henley choose what to play with and what to destroy.

It's actually all very interesting.  At her house, Zelly inherited Westley's two toy boxes filled to the brim with toys.  She's shown very little interest in any of those, even toys that Westley had that were the same as the ones that I have here at my house.  My daughter just couldn't figure it out until she realized that for Zelly, a dog who came from a multi-dog household with her breeder, playing with toys is a group activity.  The fun for her is in stealing (or trying to) toys from Henley or Ozzie and then racing off to play with them until the older dogs reclaim them, or they lose interest. Basically, whatever toy Henley has picked is the one she absolutely must have!

Zelly, like Henley, does have a few favorites.  She likes to tug with him on the rope toys and the snakey-squeaky toys.  She'll play fetch with almost anything you toss, but likes it best with the floating toy Henley enjoys.  But the favorites by far are the Nylabones, Benebones, and Red Barn brand stuffed real bones.  She and Henley both love to chew and can spend an hour working on a bone.  I've recently introduced Zelly to yak cheese chew sticks and collagen chew sticks, both of which she loves just as much as Henley.  She also loves the CET Veggiedent dental chews the big dogs get everyday to help with their dental health.  She is a chewer and needs a lot of options to keep her busy and content.  She's not chewed a single piece of furniture, cabinetry, etc., so she's getting her chewing desires satisfied.

All of the dogs love ice cubes, so I give them those too, but I also make special ice cubes for them that I float in about two inches of water in the baby pool in my backyard.  Ozzie hates water, but he'll play along if he's in the mood.  Henley and Zelly love water, so this keeps them cool and busy on the warmer days.  Their special cubes are just ice cube trays I've placed pieces of zucchini, carrot, apple, or a blueberry into and added water.  They can see these floating around in the pool as they dunk their noses to grab them and crunch them to get to the prized treats in the middle. 

I've always advised my clients to rotate their puppy and adolescent dog toys daily in order to keep the toys interesting.  Around here, all I have to do is pick up the toys they've played with today and bury them at the bottom of the toy boxes. When they return to the toy boxes the next day, surprise, there are all "new" toys on top!  Well, they are new as far as Zelly is concerned.  Henley will wait until she isn't looking and dig at the bottom to find his favorites from the day before.  He's a smarty-pants.

Now that I've observed Zelly for a couple of weeks, I feel that we can add some new toys to the rotation that she will enjoy.  And, honestly, it's fine if she doesn't like them immediately as Henley will play with them, and she's likely to find them more interesting that way anyway.  The beauty and functionality of a toy are in the eyes of the beholder; if a puppy or dog doesn't like a toy today, just put it away for a bit. They'll likely enjoy it down the line. And, of course, any toy played with by another dog, must be an excellent toy choice as well.

Please remember to supervise your dogs with their toys.  Toys can get destroyed so fast and you don't want them consuming any of the pieces.  Work on leave it and drop it so if they do go for a piece of stuffing or chewed off piece of plastic/rubber, you can get them to give it up or walk away from it. Any toy you give your dogs when they are unsupervised, for example when crated as you leave for work, should be as indestructible as possible.  This is why Kong toys are often great for crate alone time.  They come in various sizes, including a huge one that no dog could possibly swallow!  There are also sturdy rubber wheel-shaped chewing toys from Starmark that are safe as well for crate time.  While you might be tempted to leave your dog with a puzzle, lick mat, or snuffle mat in their crates, you really should be cautious doing so. Those puzzles have small parts that can be swallowed; lick mats can be torn up and swallowed; and snuffle mats can be destroyed, and the fabric swallowed.  Save those puzzle feeding activities for times when you can monitor your dog's progress and intercept any destructive behavior.

Back to my clients and their adolescent Husky.  I did recommend bones for him as his teeth and gums are healthy, so harder chewing options are safe for him. I also recommended the extra large Kong toy for his crate time and suggested a Buster Food Cube for feeding him his meals. They are hard to destroy and great for active dogs. I discouraged them from buying more soft, stuffed toys, at least for now, as he's mowing through them like his owners are made of money!

Well, it's time for a bathroom break for my dogs and then handing out bones to occupy them while I work.  Zelly is going to be excited as the collagen chew bones are back into the rotation today.  She's not had one since last week, so it should be exciting enough to hold her attention for at least a little while!

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

As you can see, Zelly keeps a spare bone close by in case she loses interest in her current one!

Keep Them Safe!

Now that we have a puppy at home again, my daughter and I have run through our puppy check lists together to make sure both of our homes are safe spaces for Zelly.  She lives with my daughter, but she's at my house three days a week, so that means even though I live with two adult dogs who never get into any trouble, Zelly will find a way to get into mischief if I'm not vigilant. What does this mean? It means shutting bathroom doors so she isn't digging through the trash cans.  It means moving the stuffed animals off of my kids' beds and putting them away in a closet until she learns that those stuffed toys aren't the same as the ones she and Henley play with.  This "rule" took Henley quite a while to learn; he loved rooting through my daughter's closet and under her bed for any stray stuffed animals she might have forgotten to put away up high and out of his reach!  My gardens are already dog-safe, so that was easy, but I don't have any control over my neighbors' yards, so I need to watch her when she's sniffing and exploring on walks to make sure she doesn't eat cat poop, chewing gum on the sidewalk, or get into trash put at the curb.  But there are so many other hazards too, it's almost overwhelming!

Right now, California is heading into summer which means hot, dry weather and some windy days thrown into the mix.  This is the perfect storm for wildfires, but it's also the perfect environment for foxtails.  Foxtails are a group of grasses with seed pods that are known for their "fox's tail" appearance. These seed pods are sticky and can get stuck not only in clothing and shoes, but fur and skin. They can very easily find their way into ears, eyes, noses, and under the skin of dogs sniffing and exploring these dried grasses. They aren't easy to remove either, sticking into the fur and poking into the skin.  You have to be careful removing them so that you don't leave part of the sticker in the fur or skin as well. Foxtails can migrate if they become embedded in skin, moving along to vital organs like the heart and lungs, causing secondary infections. Years ago, I saw a dog with a wound on his leg that didn't seem to be healing.  Turned out to be a drainage track, a place where a foxtail had embedded in his skin and then moved on.  His veterinarian eventually found the foxtail in his chest cavity! 

Because of the prevalence of foxtails, there is no way to avoid them completely.  There isn't a park, walking trail, or neighborhood here in the San Francisco Bay Area that doesn't have them.  So what can we do to try to minimize risk, particularly for Zelly who is just a puppy?  First and foremost we've been teaching her "leave it."  We use leave it to keep her away from sniffing and walking through the places the foxtails are abundant. When she's older, we can start putting Mane N' Tail Detangler on her legs and tail, as I do with Ozzie and Henley.  This product seems to deter foxtails from sticking in the first place, and for the few that do blow against their coats, removal is easier.  It won't protect their ears, eyes, or noses, but it does limit those that are caught up on their leg fur, chests and tails. While I'd love to spray it on their feet, it does make the areas sprayed slippery, so that's not an option.  Instead, we've trained the older dogs to wait for a foot check every time they return home from a walk.  Zelly is learning to wait for foot checks now too. I'm also planning to start using Collie Creek Candles Lochwood Essence grooming spray on Zelly's legs.  This is an all natural product that works as a detangler too, but doesn't make the fur slick or slippery, yet it does make removal of those pesky foxtails much easier.

Beyond the foxtails, our walking trails and parks are also the perfect place to find snakes, both the venomous and non-venomous varieties. I've found that most of my clients can't identify safe snakes from the non-safe ones, so avoiding snakes altogether is the best option.  Because so many dogs love ropes and sticks to play with, teaching them to avoid the "nope ropes" they find on trails etc. can be difficult.  I put Desi and Ozzie through rattlesnake avoidance training several years ago and Ozzie is still the best dog I've ever had for locating and avoiding snakes. He can find them even when they aren't on the trail, alerting me to avoid brush, rocks, or even garbage cans where they are lurking.  He is really kind of funny. I've seen him get very disgruntled when trail runners don't recognize him signaling that he's found a snake to avoid.  He'll bark at them to stop!  When I point out the nope rope, they are often mortified that they didn't even think to look for snakes!  Ozzie is very vigilant indeed.  Henley will be completing rattlesnake avoidance training this weekend and we'll take Zelly when she gets older. For now, she'll always hike with either Ozzie or Henley, or both, and they'll know what to look for and avoid.

The final hazard we'll work with Zelly on is water.  Ozzie has always been very good at avoiding water. He's never fallen into my friends' swimming pools (something Desi did more than once!) and he jumps over puddles and creeks, if possible, or wades across very carefully.  At the beach, he avoids the water, sticking to the packed sand for his strolls.  Henley wandered into a friend's pool and promptly demonstrated his ability to swim which was a relief.  I'll make him wear a life vest at the beach, just in case, since he's clearly not afraid of water, but waves can be unpredictable.  Zelly will start wearing her life vest soon and take a first dip in the safety of a friend's swimming pool. We need to see if she'll love it like her Uncle Henley, or hate it like Uncle Ozzie!  Either way, that life vest will keep her safe and sound for trips to the beach, the lake, or the river.

The world is clearly full of hazards, some of which we can avoid or mitigate, while others we must deal with as they come.  All the dogs wear crash-tested car harnesses in the car and are monitored with bones and other potential choking hazards.  We carry a dog first aid kit on hikes, as well as the human one. Ozzie and Henley know and understand leave it, drop it, and stop, and Zelly is learning these things as well. It's about being vigilant and prepared, and I'm encouraging you to do the same.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

This is one of my favorite pictures for Ozzie and Westley, on a springtime hike, when the grasses were still green and the poppies were just, well, popping up.  This was long before Westley's cancer diagnosis. Happier times indeed.

Here's Zelly!

It's been in the works for a while, but I hesitated to say anything for fear of jinxing it. I'd been looking for a dog to take over as my daughter, Jessica's, next ESA as we all knew Westley's life was coming to a close. He wasn't tolerating chemo this second time around, and though he rallied for a few weeks, pneumonia took him sooner than we'd thought. We'd planned a road trip, knowing it would be his last one, to meet and bring home a puppy, a puppy he could take under his wing and raise for just a while, and feel confident knowing my daughter was taken care of when he was gone. Then, he was gone in the blink of an eye, but the road trip was still planned and the puppy was still there.

I'd been following Foxhaven Collies on Facebook for quite a while.  Lise Morgan was doing wonderful things with her collie puppies, giving them a solid foundation through puppy culture, and then moving on to balance work, socialization, confidence building, and public access practice, all the behaviors necessary for producing reliable, well-adjusted, behaviorally sound puppies. Her dogs were not just beautiful on the outside, they were beautiful on the inside as well; healthy minds and healthy bodies.  Actually, I had hoped to acquire one of her puppies someday for myself!  I followed Lise and Bill Morgan's November 2024 litter, enjoying all of the puppy pictures and milestones they achieved. They attended puppy classes, earned AKC Puppy Star titles, and passed their physicals, eye checks, and temperament tests with flying colors.  Lise was transparent, sharing their journey with all of us who follow her, even though the puppies were spoken for. 

Then, as sometimes happens, situations changed. Zelly, one of those amazing puppies in the November litter, was available to the right home.  Lise was looking for an active home, maybe one where the owner would do performance sports with her. She was the female pick of the litter, absolutely gorgeous, and smart as a whip with confidence and moxie.  The perfect female collie, of course.  We'd not had a female collie in our family since Pearl passed away many years ago. She, too, was a beautiful, bright, tri-color smooth collie. I reached out to Lise and simply asked if she'd be willing to discuss placing Zelly in an active home with an owner who would need Zelly to also serve as her ESA. Lise was open to discussing this possible future for Zelly and we began talking. Meanwhile, Westley came out of remission and started a second round of chemotherapy.  

After a handful of phone calls and a Zoom meeting, Lise felt that it would be good to meet in person, to see if Zelly and my daughter had a love connection.  We would be meeting halfway between Colorado and California in a small town in Utah, spending the weekend together to get to know everyone in person. Lise would bring Zelly and her dam, Grace, while we would bring Westley, of course, and Henley.  Ozzie was going to have to sit out this road trip, unfortunately, as his recent spondylosis diagnosis meant that many hours in a car would be uncomfortable for him. We set the date and got excited about meeting in person, sharing photos and updates as we waited. Meanwhile, Westley was having trouble with this round of chemo, needing to skip two of his weekly infusions due to low white blood cell counts.

Then, just days before leaving for Utah, Westley took a turn for the worse, developing a pneumonia. He was hospitalized and stabilized briefly, and though he tried to rally, it was clear that he was struggling, something we couldn't bear to watch.  He was ready to cross the rainbow bridge, though we were far from ready to let him go. 

A decision had to be made. Should we still make the road trip to see this puppy, despite the overwhelming grief my daughter was experiencing over the passing of her beloved boy?  Ultimately, we decided to do it.  We'd committed to meeting Zelly, and she owed it to Westley's memory to see if she could open her heart to another dog. When she met Zelly there was an instant connection.  Zelly was lively and goofy, delivering happy kisses and tail wags.  She'd never met a stranger, considering everyone she met as a new friend,  but she could tell Jessica needed something a bit more.  As we got to know Zelly, it was clear: If Jessica could open her heart and love another dog, not as replacement for Westley, but as the next dog to be her partner, hiking buddy, and ultimately her next ESA, Zelly was the right dog for the job. It was hard to let her go, but Lise agreed that Zelly and Jessica were a good match and would have a wonderful life together, really all she ever wanted for any of her puppies.

So now it's up to Henley, a puppy raised by Westley (with a bit of help from Ozzie and Desi, of course), to help raise this puppy to fill Westley's very big shoes. She isn't a replacement, a distraction, or a knee jerk response to losing a dog. She is, quite simply, Zelly, and she's one-of-a-kind.

Thank you, Lise Morgan, for everything.  I appreciate you so much and am delighted to call you family.

Welcome to your California family Zelly, Foxhaven You Had Me At Hello. We all love you already.

Jessica took this photo which, I think, shows you everything you need to know about her blossoming relationship with Zelly.  Just look at the love in this puppy's eyes as she watches her new owner. Gives me goosebumps!