War Dog. Hectic, Jumping Dogs. Chasing Wires on Mother's Day in Cargo Trailer.

For " Mammal Monday" let's see.....

One Dog And 79 Commandos Kill Osama Bin Laden

"According to The New York Times, the team that killed Osama bin Laden was comprised of 79 commandos and one dog.   Of the 80 member team that was deployed to take down bin Laden, few draw more speculation than the one on four legs
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The heroic pooch was strapped to a Navy SEAL as they were lowered from a hovering helicopter.The news of the dog's use in the raid broke Wednesday, but like the other members of the team that was deployed, its identity remains unknown.

While the dog is known for its bomb-sniffing prowess, it has other capabilities that make it a wonderful dog-of-war. The dog may have been trained to "sniff out enemy troops from up to 2 miles away."  (I wonder if it is because they don't use Deodorant!)

The sensory perception brought by these dogs in a wartime situation is unparalleled. “The capability they bring to the fight cannot be replicated by man or machine,” General David H. Petraeus said last year, calling for more use of dogs.

No news yet on what breed he or she was, or what role the dog played in the mission."
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Even though Tori is partially paralyzed it doesn't prevent her from enjoying the miles of trails, abundant wildlife and beautiful scenery of Michigan

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How to calm the hectic dog.
"A big problem for many dog owners is the hectic, crazy dog.  The dog that literally blows a gasket every time he sees another dog, person, bird, squirrel or  leaf blowing by.
When it comes to calming the hectic dog, it's important to understand how reinforcement works.
Webster defines reinforcement as: An event, a circumstance, or a condition that increases the likelihood that a given
response will recur in a situation like that in which the reinforcing condition originally occurred.
Basically, when we reinforce a behavior, the behavior gets stronger.
 
What most people don't understand is that reinforcement comes in two forms:
Intentional reinforcement and UN-intentional reinforcement.
A lot of the behaviors that we don't like have been unintentionally reinforced by the owner.
For example, the dog starts to bark and pull and become uncontrollable. The owner starts to pull back on the leash
and starts to say things like: "Stop that," "Stop pulling," "Bad boy," "No," "Don't pull," "Quit it," and on it goes.
Same thing happens with jumping. The dog jumps and gets some form of attention. Barking is often reinforced by
the owner shouting at the dog. My friend and psychotherapist, Gena, tells me often that negative attention is better than no attention.

So we have to be very careful about unintentionally reinforcing the behaviors we don't like.
When I walk into a classroom full of dogs and their owners, the first thing I have the owners do is to stop talking to their dogs UNLESS the dog is doing exactly what they want the dog to do.
If their dog is standing politely at their side and there is no tension in the leash, if they are not straining and barking at the other dogs, then and only then do they talk and pet their dog.
If the dog pulls, I instruct them to simply pull back on the leash and to put some slack into the leash. Pull back and get the leash to go slack.
The amazing thing that happens when you do this is that the less you struggle, the faster you gain control.
So your homework is to go to a park or a place that is not too busy (you don't want to make it too difficult in the beginning) and practice with your dog.
Find a spot and just stand there with your dog. When your dog becomes excited and starts to pull, don't say anything, don't get ruffled and simply pull back on the leash and put some slack into it.
Repeat this and in a few minutes you'll see a big change in your dog. Once your dog relaxes, then and only then do you turn on the verbal and physical praise.

Give it a try and see for yourself.  I guarantee you'll be impressed with your dog and yourself."   By Eric Letendre. 
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Do not punish your dog for greeting you. He is only doing what is natural canine behaviour.
Instead teach him how you want him to behave then give him loads of love!
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Clicker Training

Learn how to use a clicker to train your dog and deal with behavior problems.

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Yesterday:

I thought I was going to have a quiet day piddling around catching up on things, such as a mass of emails, defrosting the deep freeze, coloring my hair, bathing and grooming Misty, etc.    Also, I wanted to make some alterations to my full size bedspread, and make it narrower.    I have been trying, unsuccessfully to find a twin one that would match the color scheme.  The twin comforter I bought last winter is great, but too hot for this time of year.  My dogs, and sometimes cats, sleep in beds under my bed, but when I am counting noses to see if everybody is present and correct, the bedspread is too long.

But first I had to oil my sewing machine, as it hadn't been used for a long time.  Book in hand, I went through all the steps, unscrewing the top, oiling the parts in there, on the sides and undercarriage, too.  I laid the bedspread out on my bed and was pinning it up to the desired width, when my son, Kevin showed up, big box in hand.  It contained enough chicken fajitas and fixings, for a family of 4.

After we had eaten some of it, he said he had come to help me with the 12v. wiring on the cargo trailer.  That was a great Mother's Day gift.  But first, I had to start my old B+ motor home, as that is the only vehicle here with a 7-pin plug on it. We used to tow a 20 foot HiLo travel trailer behind it when we had guests visiting from England who wanted to go on sight seeing trips.   Sometimes just in TX and LA, and sometimes as far as Colorado Springs, CO, and Big Bend, TX. 
That way they had a place away from our pets, with separate bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, and their morning tea brewing. We would leave the travel trailer in the campground, and sightsee in the fully equipped 20' B+ motor home, it even has 9 seatbelts, so choices of seats are very optional!    We were never charged double for having two rigs, but setting up and leaving was easy, as often we would just hook-up them up to power, if only there for one night.

As I wasn't expecting this, that got me into high gear, putting a charger on the chassis battery.  I have been lax in my RV starting lately, so getting it going was not that easy, and Kevin had to take the B+'s van engine cowling moved enough to get some gas in the carb.  We made sure we had some good extinguishers handy, in case it backfired.  It has an auxiliary electric fuel pump, but for some reason, it wasn't clicking.  Jay knows where those wires are underneath, so I will ask him to check and see if some 'meeces' have been at work.

It roared to life at the first spin, and after letting it warm up, I drove it around and backed it onto the side lot driveway, where the cargo trailer is.   Kevin plugged in the cargo trailer pigtail, but no running lights. I had a copy of the schematic for a 7-pin plug and eventually, he determined that the plug on the end of the trailer cord was at fault. 

So he went inside the trailer to see how the 12v. lights were doing.  I reconnected the trailer battery, as we keep it disconnected so that no one will touch the power jack, as we have the trailer exactly level, and on jacks, to keep it steady during the cabinet building.   Kevin was very miffed that wire color coding had not been used on the wires coming out of the trailer to the pigtail, and even spray painted some red wires black, and black wires red!   He fiddled and checked wires for ages, but we never really got it all resolved.
 
I sure was worn out from all the climbing in and out of rigs. I had to go to bed with my bedspread still in pins, but I did change them to safety pins, as there is no telling when I will get back to that!

It was a great time to spend some time with my son on Mother's Day.