Teaching an old dog new tricks

I think my dog might fail out of graduate school - or more appropriately my mom and I might fail out of graduate school.

Yesterday was our third week of graduate class with our dog Cassidy. It's our third group class, and man, it's started to be a challenge.

Cassidy has always been a sharp dog. She was potty trained when we got her from a shelter at 2 years old, and she knew some simple commands such as sit and down. When we first started working with a trainer - one on one because Cassidy hates other dogs and wasn't allowed in dog classes - she quickly learned some other basic commands. Within a week, she had learned to stay off the furniture, with a simple command for "off." The command is also used when she jumps up on people. She learned to wait at doorways for us to pass through first with the command "wait." She learned "stay" and "watch me."

Her first group class was one called "Rehab for Raging Rovers." The point of the class was not so much to teach the dogs commands as expose them to other dogs and teach the owners way to redirect the dogs' attention to keep them from getting overwhelmed. The other dogs in the class included a greyhound who had already been in raging rovers several times, a pit bull mix, a cattle dog and a few other dogs who were leash reactive. Of the dogs in the class, Cassidy was actually the one to act up the least and if she did growl, we were often able to calm her down quickly. Especially when we had a bag full of hot dog bits.

At the end of the class, our trainer suggested we send her to daycare a few times a month to keep her exposed to dogs, walk her at parks where we are likely to see other dogs and enroll in the beginner's obedience class. When we started the beginner's class last spring, Cassidy was the star pupil since many of the commands were things we'd already practiced with the trainer or in the rehab class. She had the "watch me" command, one that gets the dogs to look at your eyes, one that has been especially helpful in keeping Cassidy calm around other dogs. She picked up the "come" command quickly and learned the emergency recall command "come now" even faster (since a piece of beef jerky is offered up to her when she listens to that one.)

But the graduate class is finally the one that has slowed down our quick-learning dog. We are in the midst of teaching the dogs heel, and it's a tough command to teach. Our instructor said on the first day as we tried the string of commands together that it's a bit like learning the steps to a new dance. But I don't dance for a reason...I lack coordination. So for the heel training we string together a bunch of commands the dogs already know, except now they have to learn to do them on the left side, without us facing them. We practiced it at home all last week and we could get Cassidy to do all the steps - heel, sit, down, watch me, but we just could not get her to do the stand command. We could tell when Cassidy was getting frustrated with us, as she went through her repertoire of tricks, trying to figure out what we wanted. And sometimes we knew we were getting frustrated and just needed to walk away. Sometimes she seemed to just give up, too, and would hide under the kitchen table.

When we got to class yesterday, the first thing all the owners had to do was take the dogs through the heel commands. Cassidy flew through the commands, but when it came to stand, she jumped up on her hind legs or laid down. The trainer pointed out that my mom was holding the treat for the stand command too high up for Cassidy to reach. So the whole time we were practicing it at home there was a reason Cassidy couldn't get it. It wasn't her, it was us. But the training has been going better, so maybe you can teach an old dog (me and my mom) new tricks.

Photo by Melissa Flores
Cassidy in the down position.

(Wo)man's best friend

I never thought I was a dog person. When ever I'd go over to someone else's place, a friend or a coworker or relative, and they had a dog, I'd cringe as it jumped up on me. I'd feel the urge to wash my hands as soon as a dog licked me and I couldn't stand slobber from the more salivatory types of dogs. Sure puppies were cute, but dogs just seemed messy and demanding. I always preferred my cat, who'd sleep next to me at night, and pretty much sleep all day, too.

After having a dog of my own for two and a half years, I have to admit my feelings have changed. My dog is Cassidy, and she's a 4-year-old mutt, part Shiba Inu, Keeshond and Staffordshire terrier, and who knows what else. She gives kisses on command, when we point a finger at our chin, and she knows lots of other tricks, such as shake, crawl, and even jumps through a hula hoop - all for treats, of course.

Just recently my mom nominated Cassidy for Cesar Millan's National Spokesdog competition. The competition is set up so the dogs get votes, but the votes cost $1 each, and the money goes to the Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation, which benefits shelter dogs across the country. Vote for Cassidy or add your own dog to the competition. After all, the money all goes for a good cause as my family learned in our journey with our shelter mutt.

I blame my sister for my transformation to a dog person, although maybe I am more of a Cassidy person. When my parents bought a house close to three years ago the first thing on my sister's agenda was to get a dog. We had a yard finally instead of a little patio, and no landlord to tell us we couldn't have pets. I said we should wait to get a dog since the three cats we had just went through a big change with the relocation. I thought they needed some time to settle in to the new place.

We moved to our current residence in January. And one day on the way home from San Jose, I jokingly suggested we should stop at the animal shelter in San Martin. My sister and my mom said it was a great idea. So we went in and looked at the dogs. The shelter in San Martin services unincorporated Santa Clara County and dogs picked up as strays from some of the police departments, and there are always a mix of chihuahuas and pit bulls, but often a lot of other mutts. I saw a shaggy red-haired dog that I liked, but my sister liked a black and tan terrier mix. We left after deciding to wait a while longer to get a dog.

The next day, though, I got a picture message on my phone of a dog and called my mom immediately. Turns out my sister and my mom had gone on their lunch hour to adopt the black and tan dog. It was early February and my mom had won a football pool. She used the money for the adoption fee. The dog was at home by the time I got off work and within weeks she was part of the family.

Not to say that it was easy. Cassidy, as my sister named her, was picked up as a stray. We didn't know anything about her history, but she came to us weighing 13 pounds with her hip bones sticking out, and her nipples leaking milk. She had a scar on her leg that looked very much like the remnants of an old dog bite. The shelter staff estimated that she was 2 years and one month old.

At first she was quiet and calm. She came to us housebroken and she knew basic commands such as sit. But within six weeks, her true personality had come out. She reacted agressively to people coming to the front door, our cats, people on bicycles, baby strollers and most especially, other dogs. She couldn't go to group classes because she'd go psycho as soon as she saw another dog, hackles up and nearly foaming at the mouth. It was a few months after we'd had Cassidy that we realized the commitment and work required with any dog, especially a shelter dog that probably hasn't been properly socialized.

It took three trainers and a year and a half of work before we found a trainer who taught us the tools to anticipate the things that will set Cassidy off, and the confidence to walk her without worrying about how she will react to other dogs. It still takes a lot of work, and alertness, and chicken treats, but we are now to the point where we've been able to take Cassidy to a beginning dog class and be in the same room with a dozen dogs and not have her go crazy.

It's been a long journey, but ulitimately it has been worth it - just to see Cassidy's wagging tail and get one of those kisses.

Photos by Melissa Flores

Cassidy on the day she came home to our house, all skin and bones.

Cassidy two years later, fattened up to a healthy 20-plus pounds and well-trained to do tricks on command.