5 Dogs in Portland

Our trip went fantastic! The dogs took it all really well considering their whole world was turned around! In the car they all slept. I would forget they were in the car they were so quiet.

Luther was the funniest as he would watch out the windows all the time just looking at stuff. He was very quietly intrigued by the scenery.

We tried to get them some good exercise each day in addition to quick walks every few hours. The first day we were lucky enough to find a forest preserve near the mississippi river that no one else was at. We let all the dogs run off leash in the woods, they had a blast and then slept for hours. The second day we found a Cabela’s and played fetch off leash on their huge property. Then let the dogs chill in there outdoor kennels (our traveling buddy stayed with them) while we went inside to buy them some new toys and treats. They chewed the “chuck-it” in the back of the car before we ever got to use it! Lol!

The third day we took them for a long walk in city park where Aiden was a super star!

The last day was all driving and by the time we got to our house they were ready to run! We had a lot of fun playing in our new huge back yard! They very quickly settled into our new house and we’ve only had one major issue so far, Simon fell out a window! It was our bedroom window on the first floor but the only reason we knew is because the other dog were standing at the window acting weird! They kept making little barks and we kept telling them to lay down, then I realized there was a bark outside and simon was gone!! Ace had to go outside to rescue him! Besides that the dogs have done great! We are rotating who gets to go to all great dog friendly places with us and they are loving it here!

We have Arrived!

We arrived in our new house and are settling in. Sunday we got here around 6:45 Pacific time as we pulled in the driveway Mark yelled “NEW HOW (house)”! I was promptly interrogated by the neighbor but I brushed it off and we played in our back yard with our dogs. Soon the realtor arrived with the keys and we saw our house in person for the first time. We didn’t know the layout at all! It was really fun (and scary) exploring it. It was overwhelming. We only had a few things with us, and now we had this big empty house too. 

We both had some serous fears and doubts the first night, but soon enough we were passed out on the floor of our new house. 

The next morning we went to a great breakfast place (in that time we missed the appointment for the gas to be turned on) I ran some errands then picked up Mike and some lunch. We ended up going to a mall because it was so unnaturally hot we got some awesome, but WAY too expensive dinner before our ordeal of a night then involved losing my keys, forgetting things all over and eventually getting to take a shower….

Today was great because we got the truck unloaded and I got a nap! Seriously awesome. After I finally woke up we got lunch at a local food cart pod (more on these awesome places in a later post), then bought appliances! We won’t get our appliances till monday so I may need to go to the Laundromat soon. We managed to get our bedroom mostly set up and put away and we picked up a few groceries. 

Tomorrow we are probably going to IKEA to get a cheep couch and desk. 

On the Road

Here I am sitting in our kind of gross hotel in Draper, Utah. A suburb of Salt Lake City (I think…). All I know is that this almost tops the list of places I like the least of anywhere we visited (but beating LA is gonna be hard for any city). Its a weird climate that I don’t like much. I’m pretty sure this is still considered “Semi-arid” like most of the places we’ve been recently (Nebraska, Wyoming), but whatever it is I don’t like it. Its weird feeling, and too high up… and well just a strange place where every family is gigantic and has strange values. Where instead of having left turns they make you turn right, then have a U-turn lane. 0.o Its hot, and kind of dry, and kind of mountainy, but not that much. I’d take Vegas over this any day. Can’t wait to leave and head to Portland, but my planning wasn’t the greatest so tomorrow we have over 12 hours of drive time. We hope to leave by 7am Mountain time.

The trip is actually going EASIER than I expected. So easy I’ve driven the whole thing! The drive has been more scenic than I expected and the dogs have been very well behaved. They have been in the car over 8 hours a day for 3 days and in small hotel rooms at night (sometimes split up between two rooms). They are doing well with being walked and have gotten to run around off leash twice, once Toby ran off chasing a bird, but besides that they have been well behaved. Mark is handling the car well, so well we didn’t even use the DVD player at all the first day. The only downside is that the car puts him to sleep so he’s napping 2-3 times a day then staying up late when we all need to sleep.

I’ve learned a few things on this trip. Here are a few random ones: Don’t waste space in your suitcase for kids PJ’s because they won’t want to put them on anyway. Snacks, you can’t have too many snacks. Hotel ice buckets make good dog water bowls in a pinch! Cabalas is a great place to stop on the road, especially with dogs. They have outdoor dog kennels and water available. And they have walking paths and some even have enough outdoor area for a game of catch with your pup! We had all 5 running around at one! They also sell dogs supplies if you need any! 

One more day and we will be at our NEW HOUSE. 

Here we go!!!

Sorry for the hiatus, I will try to write somewhat regularly throughout the move and for the weeks following. 

Today we put about 80% of our possessions in a truck, it leaves tomorrow. About 2% will be in the car with us, and the rest is being sold or given away. We leave Thursday morning on the greatest adventure, traveling cross country with 5 dogs and a baby. 

Mutt Monday: Aiden

This is the second post in my “Mutt Monday” series. The first can be found at Mutt Monday: Josie. You can find a post on our corgi at Waldo.

Aiden was our third dog and is actually our only non-mutt! As you know I’m a huge supporter of rescuing a shelter dog (and I plan on doing that for every other dog I ever get), but I also support responsible breeders. Breeders have a passion for a specific breed of dog and care to preserve that breed. They care about dogs temperament and health and help provide great pets and great working dogs. The most important thing they do is preserve breeds. Without responsible breeders we would not have dog breeds, so I do support responsible breeders. Responsible being those that only breed their females every 1-2 years at most, take care to only breed healthy dogs, find great homes for all their animals, and are committed to their animals for life, making their buyers sign a contract that they will return their dog if they can’t care for them (keeping their dogs out of shelters). Anyway… After searching shelters and finding no wolfhounds, I went to a great breeder in Kentucky. If you would like their contact info, message me. Thats where I got my only purebred dog, Aiden. My gentle giant.

Aiden was born May 2nd, 2009. He was my graduation present and he was born on my graduation day which also happend to be Kentucky Durby Day! He is one month younger than my nephew Vincent! The amazing part of using a breeder was that I got to follow his mom’s pregnancy and get updates on him every week. It was tough to pick a puppy from the pictures (since they were several hours away). I just asked them to give me the lightest colored male, and told them to start calling him Aiden, a good irish name meaning “little fire.”  And I’ll admit it I picked it from watching Jon and Kate Plus 8. I loved that show and those kids were so cute. 🙂

Aiden just a few weeks old. He was only 1lb at birth, now he’s 140lbs!

We got to meet Aiden on my way to TKD nationals in florida and on the way back we picked him up. We were so antsy to get him we cut our trip short! He was the last puppy to go home since we chose to wait till after vacation to get him (which was a great plan)!

What to say about Aiden. I don’t know where to start! He’s just fantastic, and I love him to death. He’s the dog with a facebook fan page that you can find here. He’s 140lbs of all love! When we first met him he was a little rough and tumble. He had no idea what the word gentle meant and would climb on you with his “dinosaur paws” wanting more love than you could give him and giving you more love than you knew what to do with!

Aiden and his litter mates. I believe Aiden is left of center (third from the left), but don’t quote me on that. Later he was given a lime green collar making it easier to identify him in the pictures of litter.

Aiden at 8 weeks old in all his floppy goodness! He was about 18lbs when we brought him home the next week.

As a puppy Aiden was growing so fast he need lots of calories so he needed to eat four times a day! As an older puppy he ate more food than he does now. Eating 10 cups a day at his max around 9 months old! Raising a wolfhound is almost as hard as raising a toddler! You have to make sure they eat a lot, but spread out, and not too fast, and they can’t play after eating. Oh and they can’t go down stairs for a few months, or play too rough, or run too fast. Yes. For real! A puppy! Wolfhounds grow so fast that their bones can break easily if they jump off a couch, or run and take a quick turn. Its really nice when the are older and you know the growth plates are closed so you can relax a little and let them play! luckily wolfhounds are NOT high energy dogs and love to just sit on the couch with you more than anything! It is important to take them for walks as puppies to make sure they are walking well and being trained well they are still small and easy to correct!

Trying to get a picture of our 3 dogs after Aiden came home, but he wouldn’t hold still! He was about the same weight as waldo, just an inch taller than Josie!

Aiden grew amazingly fast. So fast I could see the difference in the morning each day. His legs were string beans, just stretching out each day. I had no idea something could grow as fast as he did! He would put on pounds faster than we could track them!

Aiden at 4 months old. Still hasn’t grown into his ears and paws!

I did puppy classes with Aiden when he was very very young much younger thanI normally would because I wanted him walking nice before he was huge! He is my only dog that will reliably heal off leash (though Luther is getting there), so it was well worth all the effort put in! It helps that he is such a momma’s boy and will follow me anywhere!

Aiden wearing his “Star Puppy” medal at 6 months old. One of the youngest dogs in our school to pass the puppy version of the Canine Good Citizen’s test. He fits his ears better by 6 months!

Aiden is very loving boy and will do almost anything I ask of him. He passed his STAR Puppy test and later his Canine Good Citizen’s test with east. He later went on to become a Delta Society Pet Partner, Therapy dog! That test was a little harder because I was nervous Aiden did just fine!

Aiden is one of the most loving dogs you will ever meet (if you have the pleasure). I’ll always remember the day he really showed his intuition for the first time. We were at the vet when he was around 6 months old. There was an older lady there that had to put her cat down. She came out of the exam room crying and Aiden just walked over and put his head on her lap and was just there. She smiled though her tears petting him. No puppy goofiness, no pawing, he just sat there with her. That is the kind of dog he is. Loving, caring, compassionate. I’m lucky to have him.

Aiden about 5 months old next to a LARGE 3 year old wolfhound. Shows you how “Little” he was. Aiden is 3 now and is not as tall as this guy. He’s still very big, just not this big!

 

To say Aiden is tall is an understatement. People see Luther and say he’s big, or he’s tall. He is nothing compare to Aiden! You just can not grasp his height from pictures. A wolfhound needs to be experienced. If you have never met a wolfhound I would recommend looking up your local club and seeing one in person. They are truly something exceptional. Aiden can lick me in the face while standing on all four’s. He can stand on his back legs and look my stepdad in the eyes… and he’s still at an angle. I don’t know exactly how tall he is, as he’s taller than the device to measure dogs at the vet!

Aiden still young, lounging on “The Dog Couch”.

 

Aiden standing on the couch at my Parent’s house.

 

Aiden, 2 christmas’s ago stretching across the ENTIRE LIVING ROOM.

 

All my dogs at the time, plus my aunts dogs. Oh and I’m in there somewhere too. Aiden is still a pup in this one and he’s bigger than Luther. 

 

I can’t reiterate enough how loving Aiden is. He is a peaceful dog. He shares willingly with everyone and loves everyone. He will give up his food to the little dogs if I don’t keep them away!

Aiden loved when we fostered kittens. Here he is cuddling with Milo.

 

Aiden loves his “cousin” Vincent. Who is only 1 month older than Aiden. Here they are both just over 1 year old.

 

Aiden shares his bed with Josie.

 

When we first got Simon he quickly bonded with Aiden and still uses Aiden as a bed. Aiden doesn’t mind, he has a soft spot in his heart for daschunds.

 

Aiden’s ultimate annoying roomate, Mark. See how Ace is holding Aiden’s paw. The only way Aiden can hurt mark is accidentally. Aiden even loves babies. (Mark still makes that grumpy face.) 

 

Sharing the house with the baby.

Mutt Monday: Josie!

I’m starting a series of blogs about each of my dogs. Each monday I’ll do a little post on one of my pups for “Mutt Mondays!” I’m very excited to share more about my family with you. I’m going to start with our first dog, Josie.

Josie

Josie was supposed to be a surprise. We were newly married with 2 cats and Ace wanted a puppy, BAD. He said he’d never lived in a house without a dog. I decided to secretly look around. He insisted he would have a dog named “Josiah” I hated that name, at least for a dog. After some prying I discovered that the name “Josie” would be acceptable for a female, and we both wanted a corgi. Then, fate happened. I popped in “corgi” and “young” to pet finder and this adorable chihuahua/corgi named “Josie” popped up! It was too good to be true, but I went and visited here and she chose me right away.

I got her for Ace on Valentines day. We had no idea that really she had picked me.

The day after we got her.

She was so happy. After being brought to a shelter for “Behavior Issues” and then transferred to a no kill shelter she finally ended up with us and she was over the moon. So were we. I had no idea I wanted a dog so bad, but I LOVED her. After a little trained she turned out to be one of the most well-balenced dogs I’ve ever met. Her and I are very close and even though she was meant for Ace she is my little girl!

Two days after she came home.

Josie is confident, loyal, loving, sweet, and gentle. She became the cornerstone for our ever growing dog pack and she is still my little shadow, even sitting with me as I write this. The joy she’s brought into our lives has been more than I ever could have imagined and she helped me realize that I totally am a “Dog person.” Since getting Josie we’ve saved 5 more dogs. I’ve worked at a doggie day care and volunteered at shelters. We’ve done obedience classes and agility classes. And Josie is AWESOME at agility.

Josie hanging out at agility class.

The scariest part of Josie’s life was the day we almost lost her. It was April 2009 and I was gearing up to go to an income tax protest and even had a special bandana picked out for Josie! I went to get her to leave and she wouldn’t come out of her crate. She threw up and the collapsed. She couldn’t stand. I freaked out. I threw her in the back of my car and rushed to the vet calling them on the way. I was worried she was going to die in the car. They rushed her back into the OR as soon as I got there and only told me she was in shock. Eventually I had to leave to go to work. At work I got a call telling me she was bleeding internally and they didn’t know why, but they had done everything they could and I needed to come get her and take her to a bigger animal hospital an hour away. The day only got harder from there. At the animal hospital they took her to the doggy ICU then told us they would need a very large sum of money for her to stay. Thank God I had enough in my bank account to cover it! She was my baby and she was the best dog ever I would do anything for her! She had to stay there 2 nights before she was stable. Our vets had removed over a pound of cat litter (Tidy Cats) from her stomach and the hospital considered removing her gall bladder but was eventually able to stop the bleeding without doing that, so we actually got much of our money back. The only thing any of the vets could say was that either the cat litter poisoned her, or she also got into something poisonous. I agree with House M.D. in that I don’t like coincidences and I’m going to assume it was the cat litter. Josie made such a great recovery that most people don’t even believe this story when I tell them, and we have since switched to all natural cat litter and I highly suggest everyone else does the same!

Josie, Waldo (RIP), and Cedric (my mom’s dog).

 

Since Mark was born, Josie has become second in our life but she’s put up with it well. She (mostly) respects Mark as above her in the pack and puts up well with him beating on her (Yes, I do stop it as quick as possible). The first 6 months Mark was alive (and the month before) she was kicked out of our bed because we planned on co-sleeping. Once mark was bigger though we allowed her back in and now she happily shares space with him.

Mark and Josie sleeping on me.

Mark and Josie sleeping by my legs.

Mark and Josie sleeping in my armpit.

Josie is the best dog anyone could ever ask for. I never thought I could love a little dog this much but I do. Oh! And after having her a little while we realized that if she has any corgi in her its very minimal. We believe she has Chihuahua, jack russel, and pug in her. Heres a few more cute pictures from the last 4 wonderful years.

Showing off her fantastic athletic abilities running in the yard.

Josie my shadow sitting with me at the kitchen counter.

Josie jumping for beer!

“Aren’t you proud of me!?”

Waldo

My dog Waldo is sick. We don’t know what’s wrong. Last night he wouldn’t eat dinner… he didn’t want to do anything. He just sat there and looked miserable. I felt his tummy, it was huge. We left right away fot the emergency vet. It wasn’t air, it was fluid floating around in his abdomen. They have no idea why. Their biggest concerns are an infection or cancer.

Waldo was the 2nd dog we got, and he’s our oldest at about 5 1/2. Here is the day we adopted him, in November of 2008 (This is the day after we got the idea for Mosaic).

 

The day after he came home.

 

Last night wondering if my dog had only a few days left to live or if he still had many healthy years I realized, that whatever the case I can be happy knowing I did right by him. I’ve always said my goal is to give Waldo a happy life the rest of his life and to give him a good place to live. I’ve done that. He is a happy healthy dog, who eats pleanty, but not too much. He has his own crate with a blanket in it. His own collar and tag picked especially for him. He plays with other dogs everyday. He knows lots of people that love to pet him. He has a boy that adores him. In the summer he goes swimming and in the winter he sleeps a lot becuase he doesn’t like the snow. He has me, an owner that knows all his issues, and what makes him happy. I know that if he swims more than an hour he’ll get stiff and hurt for days, I know that all he really wants is to eat, sleep, and fetch. I know he still has a hard time trusting that he’ll have enough food and I’ve worked with him to help him gain confidence and trust. He’s had a good life with us and however long he has left will be good. Wether its 2 weeks, 2 months, or several years.

Here are a few more pictures of everyones favorite cross eyed beagle/corgi.

Waldo with one of his favorite fetch toys.

 

Swimming and playing fetch, few things are better.

 

Waldo following Luther's path after the "Snowpocalypse" Jan 2011.

 

Waldo and Mark Christmas 2010

 

Waldo playing with Mark.

Mandatory Spay and Neuter Laws

Mandatory spay and neuter (MSN) laws are all the rage lately and for some reason many in the rescue community are getting behind them. Most of the time animal rescuers are very smart, researching what they do. That’s why thy save animals instead of breed them. They are smart and have hearts for the helpless in our society. Yet, for some reason they, and many others, seems to have skipped their research when it comes to mandatory spay and neuter. They also seem to have forgotten which country we live in.

It is very much a fact that spaying and neutering domestic cats and dogs reduces the pet population. People simply can’t stop nature! Dogs and cats are driven to make more dogs and cats, and when the time is right they will stop at nothing to do so! In fact, leaving your dog in-tact is a good way to lose him, as he will be driven to track down any in heat females he can smell. Dogs that have never gotten out of the yard will scale a 6 foot fence for a good opportunity to make puppies! Spaying and neutering in itself is highly recommend by about pretty much everyone and the benefits go on and on. All 5 of my dogs, including my purebred AKC registered Irish Wolfhound are spayed or neutered, along with my two cats. No puppies here unless they are rescued!

You would think because of this that mandatory spay and neuter laws would greatly reduce pet population then, since spaying and neutering works so well. But its not nearly that simple. First of all, the people who are not spaying and neutering their animals now are in one of three groups. Either they are a responsible breeder, that has good homes lined up for their animals, they are people that are already not following the licensing, vaccination, and anti-cruelty laws already in existence, or they would be open to spaying or neutering but do not have access to a vet or can not afford to get their animals spay or neutered.

In the united states, animal welfare laws are very very rarely enforced. It is a well known fact, even among the rescue community. Most of the time a not for profit group has to come in and do all the leg work while local police or animal control basically come along for the “bust.” Groups like the ASPCA or local humane societies will have to step in if anything is going to get done. The municipalities simply aren’t doing it. Putting another law on the books that won’t get enforced is not going to change a thing. The people with puppy mills will still have puppy mills, the people who just dont care about their dogs still wont care.  In fact even the ASPCA is against mandatory spay and neuter laws,

“The ASPCA is not aware of any credible evidence demonstrating a statistically significant enhancement in the reduction of shelter intake or euthanasia as a result of the implementation of a mandatory spay/neuter law.”

 They go on to say,

“[…] in at least one community that enacted an MSN law, fewer pets were subsequently licensed, likely due to owners’ reluctance to pay either the high fee for keeping an unaltered animal or the fee to have the pet altered (Office of Legislative Oversight, 1997).”

Wait, not only do MSN laws not work, but they actually hurt people and animals? Yep. Thats right. It has actually been shown that mandatory spay and neuter laws actually do damage in some communities. Owners that don’t want to spay or neuter, or can not afford it and don’t want to get caught, will forgo medical care (including vaccinations that help the pet population as a whole) to avoid getting caught or fined. Even veterinarians are against MSN laws because they don’t want people to avoid bringing their animals to the vet for other services. The American Veterinary Medical Association says,

” The AVMA does not support regulations or legislation mandating spay/neuter of privately owned, non-shelter dogs and cats. Although spaying and neutering helps control dog and cat populations, mandatory approaches may contribute to pet owners avoiding licensing, rabies vaccination and veterinary care for their pets, and may have other unintended consequences.”

These are not the only major groups that oppose mandatory spay and neuter laws. In addition to the the ASPCA, and the AVMA; No Kill Houston, the AKC, the NAIA, Best Friends Animal Society, and most large no- kill rescue groups oppose MSN laws.

There has been some good research done specifically into the cat over population problem, and it has been found that most domestic cats are spayed or neutered already. The problem lies with the stray and feral cat populations. MSN laws would actually divert resources away from trap-neuter-release programs that are badly needed. My own cat was a product of a lack TNR resources here in illinois. Not only were there no groups to help ta local women trap her ferals, but no groups were willing to take the cats either. So I came and helped with my own time and money taking four kittens. Ally Cat Allies has a fantastic document outlining all the issues with MSN and feral cat populations,

“MSN targets owners of pet cats in an effort to increase the spay/neuter rate—a pointless target given that 82% of pet cats are already neutered.”

In addition to medical care being withheld from animals and diverting resources away from TNR programs, mandatory spay and neuter laws also keep time and funds away from other places they could be better used. Such as, providing education on why it is important to spay and neuter (which has been shown to increase the amount of pets that are spayed/neutered)  and enforcing the laws that already exist. If we tracked down those breeding with out a license or those who are running puppy mills and shut them down there would be less impulse puppies available and eventually less given up to shelters (this is another issue for another day).

Mandatory Spay and Neuter laws are also unconstitutional. At this time in most of the United States animals are considered property (though that is changing in some places) and as long as I’m not hurting anyone I should be allowed to do what I want with my property. Property rights are incredibly important and almost always take precedent over any other issue at hand. Personally, this alone is a good enough reason not to have MSN laws, but I did the research on all the reasons anyway just to show the point that MSN laws don’t work!

Education always works better than legislation and this is just another example of that. If we want less pets, we need to provide people with low/no cost spay and neuter programs and educate them on the importance of spaying and neutering.

Here are the pages quoted and some other good MSN resources:

http://www.naiaonline.org/about/policy_mandatory_spay_neuter.htm

http://www.alleycat.org/document.doc?id=240

http://www.avma.org/issues/policy/animal_welfare/population_control.asp

http://www.aspca.org/about-us/policy-positions/mandatory-spay-neuter-laws.aspx

http://www.theamericandogmag.com/politics/effects-of-mandatory-spay-neuter-laws

Please spay and neuter your pets!

The Dog Room (“How can you have so many dogs?”)

Off our kitchen is a family room. This room is not used as a family room at all, but as a dog room. We have 5 dogs and 5 crates for those dogs. Two of those crates are very very large (one being the largest commercially available)! We also have 3 large plastic bins of dog food, 5 main food bowls, 2 main water bowls and a plethora of back up bowls. In addition to all this we have several boxes of treats, grooming supplies, bandanas, and various dog stuff. It has always been most productive for us to have this in the kitchen, or near to the kitchen, as its where the dogs often are gated (because some of my rescues still mark in carpeted rooms). Now that we are going to be putting our home on the market, I needed to make the kitchen and family room look and act like a kitchen and family room. So, the dogs had to move.

Since Mark was born I never use the room designated as my office. Its a weird “bonus” room that is accessible though the master bedroom closet (yes, a little like Narnia)  or though a small staircase off the family room. Its over the garage and right against the roof, so its the coldest room in the house, not a good place for a baby. This being right off the former dog room is still close to the kitchen, but that room doesn’t really need to be staged as its a weird bonus room anyway. This past week I moved all the dog stuff up there giving me a chance to reorganize my dogs stuff.

People often ask me “How can you have so many dogs?” It may seem like a lot to many people, but its not really. The tech at my vet has nine to eleven dogs at any given time (she fosters). My agility instructor has about ten border collies. Even my aunt and uncle have four or five dogs. The key to owning so many dogs is being organized and having a good system. After working at a “Camp Bow Wow” location for almost a year in college, I realized how easy it is to take care of as many as 60 dogs if you had a good system in place. Making everything as streamlined as possible helps a lot.

Aiden, my Irish Wolfhound

Our yard is fenced so letting them go out is extreamly simple, they go out in the yard several times a day to go to the bathroom and play. Some days my 3 energetic dogs will happily play for hours in the yard, we dont have grass anymore… but they also don’t need walks! I often wonder how people only have one dog! Who wears out their dog if there is no other dog? When its time for the dogs to eat (twice a day, after the people eat breakfast, and after Mark goes to bed) I just fill up all the bowls at once putting the two big guys in their crates to eat, to avoid bloat. They are both breeds that are very prone to bloat (actually one of the biggest killers of Irish Wolfhounds). Resting after eating is a very easy way to prevent bloat, also leaving the food bowls on the floor, and not allowing the dog to have excessive amounts of water around meal time.  The three litte dogs eat pretty quick (despite their slow-eating bowls) so I just feed them all at the same time and hang out for the few minutes it takes for them to eat. Finding a food all the dogs could eat really helped keep things simple, they are currently eating Natural Balance limited ingredient diet: Salmon and sweet potato. So its just fill up 5 bowls, set them down, close two crates and done. Come back in a little bit to let the big dogs out of their crates and pick up all the bowls!

Really, on most days the actual “work” of owning 5 dogs is maybe 30 minutes. On monday nights I take Josie and Simon to do dog agility, and they love it. That takes a few hours out of my week, but then most of my training for those two is done for the week. The others I find 10 minutes here and there to work their basics, and I’m always doing little things with Waldo to get him better and better with food (he has a history of food agression, but has had months with no issues with people). Once every few weeks I give them all baths, thats about 2 hours of work. The hardest part of having 5 dogs is the cost, but we are always finding ways to lower that too. We buy bowls and crates at garage sales whenever we can and if we don’t need them we donate them to rescue groups. I do like to splurge on nice leashes from earthdog.com. I LOVE using hemp leashes, they get softer with time and are durable, but Luther did manage to chew though Aiden’s first collar!

Sorry if this post was rambling, it took me 4 days to write, and I think I forgot the original point after a while!

Crate Training

All of my dogs are crate trained, and I’m a huge believer in crate training. All dogs are descended from Grey Wolves which are den animals. They feel safe in their dens, its their safe space to sleep, give birth, and raise their pups. Both wolves and dogs wont (assuming they are raised properly) defecate in their dens which can greatly help in house breaking.

Some dogs will immediately love their crates, these are usually the more “balanced” dogs. While others will dispose them seeing them as a scary place of confinement away from the things that comfort them. Whichever is the case if you should start the same way, but for dogs who obviously like the crate you can speed up the process. For example, Josie my first dog (and most balanced/well-adjusted dog) was crate trained in a day, whereas we’ve had Luther for over a year and he still can’t be left more than an hour and won’t go in crates other than his own.

Always start with the door off if it is removable. Put something comfy (and washable if you have a puppy) on the bottom and keep the crate around in an area the dog is often in so its just part of the environment. After a few hours (longer for more anxious/fearful dogs) toss some treats just in the door and allow the dog to go in and get them and come right back out. Repeat this several times through out the day. During this introduction time its also helpful to feed your dog his meals in his crate (Simon and Luther are still ALWAYS eating in their crates) still with the door off.

If they seem comfortable with this put the door on, but leave it open and repeat all of the above, adding the word “Crate” (or kennel or bed or whatever command you want) when they enter the crate.

Once they are happily going all the way to the back of the crate, start feeding them with the door closed, opening it as soon as they are finished. Then start sending them in the crate (always with a treat) and shut the door and leave them in for a minute or two. Let them out after the pre-determined amount of time. If they cry, let them out after they have STOPPED for 3 seconds! Just sit and wait till they calm down. If they cry, do a shorter amount of time next time. Slowly increase the time each time you do this (a few times a day, including at meals). Again, the length of each step can vary drastically from dog to dog. Some may only need to do this once, others it will take months. Most dogs should be ok in the crate for an hour within a week or two, if you do the exercises several times each day.

For overnight crating of a young puppy, I highly recommend keeping the crate next to your bed and bringing the puppy out every few hours to go potty and not giving water at night (unless it is very hot). This is what se did with Aiden for the first few weeks, till he could go 6 hours with out crying, then we put his crate in the kitchen. At 6 months old when he was fully house trained we let him sleep on a bed in our room at night, but still use the crate for a safe place while we are gone.

Crates should be a happy place for a dog, a place they WANT to go, my dogs often will just go sleep in their crates all on their own. They do this because they feel safe there and like it! Just like you feel safe and comfy in your bed! If they are feeling anxious in the crate back up a few steps and SLOW down, many rescue dogs and pet store dogs (which you should never buy, but may have already done so) are very hard to crate train because they had a bad experience with a cage in the past. Be patient and loving and keep trying!