CEILING UNLIMITED

Nate continues to do well in spite of my many mistakes.  Rather than try and fill in all of the details of the past few days, I thought I’d just hit the highlights:

A friend came and stayed with us for a couple of days after Christmas.  We sat around looking at Nate and thinking of different names for him.  The top choices were Dallas and Titan.  Honorable mentions were Ajax, Jack and Sebastian.  I’m still trying to get him to come when I call him Nate, so I sure a name change won’t happen anytime soon.

New Years eve, on the way to a party, we find a puppy wandering the randalls parking lot with no collar or tag.  So we take her back to our house, put her in a crate next to Nate’s and leave.  So, not only does he have to be in a crate while the other pups are allowed to roam free, now he has to be in a crate next to a stranger he won’t get to meet until the following day.  This doesn’t however, keep him from trying to strike up a conversation with her for most of the night.

Either on the night of the 1st or 2nd, Nate tastes a frog for what I believe to be his first time.  I believe this is the first time because my pups have tasted frog once or twice before and have learned to leave them alone.  Nate showed the enthusiasm of a puppy who has never frothed at the mouth after licking a frog.

I got to witness Nate resource guarding first hand a few days ago.  Trying to work on the computer and hold on to Nate is not easy when you’re sitting on a chair with wheels on a tile floor.  So I put the other pups in another room and sectioned off the kitchen so that Nate and I were the only ones and I gave him a kong to chew on.  He was very happy.  So much so that he actually chewed off the top half (it was an old kong).  Since I didn’t want him to swallow it, I commanded him to drop it and he told my left shoe what he thought of that (no damage, but he is incredibly fast).  So I traded a bigger kong for the smaller, mangled one.  He liked that option better (so did my shoe).

During one of his meal times, I fed him out of my hand instead of putting his food on the floor.  He seemed to take to it well.  I may try this again in the future.

Nate finally got to meet the new arrival (her name is Ebony) in the back yard.  Other than wanting to give chase when she ran, he showed no interest or desire to hurting her.  Still, Nate is 85 lbs and Ebony is probably 15-20 lbs.  Ebony shows no fear of Nate whatsoever.  So for the time being, if they’re out together, I plan on keeping Nate on leash.

I’ve taken Nate running a couple of times and he seems to enjoy it.  He’s been in the crate a lot lately due to the holidays and I think he is beginning to resent it.  He also doesn’t like being kept from the new puppy.  I believe keeping them apart is best for the puppy.  She hasn’t learned the rules about jumping up on a dog 5 times bigger than she is.

A couple of days ago, I decided to take Nate, Mocha and Aurora for a walk to see how they would do together.  Just getting my two on leashes and out the door is hard enough.  Add an 85 lb. Mal to the mix and it gets interesting.

The route I take takes me behind a few subdivisions including my own, along a massive flood relief ditch that empties into the Brazos River.  The total distance is about  1 1/2 miles.

Not long after we started walking, Nate was starting to pull on the leash quite a bit and I found myself in a tug-of-war between him and my other two.  So I stopped to adjust Nate’s collar, bringing it closer to his ears and to shorten the leash.  This way, when he pulled, I could pull up on the leash instead of back, which would just empower him to pull more.

As I was adjusting his collar, Nate pulled back and out and took off.  I immediately starting calling for him and resisted the urge to chase him.  I moved toward him only enough to keep him in sight and continued to call him.  As Nate would turn back to look, I would start walking away.  Seeing that we were leaving without him, Nate would start running toward us.  I praised him right up until he ran past me.

In a nearby baseball diamond, there were a few people there packing away their equipment.  As Nate approached them, I yelled to them to be careful with him.  Not getting any attention from the baseball players, Nate decided to investigate the field.  I ran to the field and closed the nearest gate.  I couldn’t get to all of them in time but he didn’t seem interested in finding an exit.  I tied up Mocha and Aurora and continued to call him.  After a couple of minutes of sniffing and running around, he finally decided to come back.  I slipped the collar back over his head and praised him for coming back.

The rest of the walk was eventful.  After getting back home, I put Nate in the crate for a little nap time while I took care of things around the house.

Nate participated in his first group howl with the other pups today.  His is a Very deep, long howl.  He’s become much more vocal over the past few days and it’s been great to hear his voice.

Nate likes TV – or at least some of the sounds it makes.  His ears perk up at the sound of sirens and other dogs barking on The Dog Whisperer.  Kim made a recording of him howling and then played it back and his ears perked up for that as well.

Nate continues to do well.  After sitting for attention, and I start petting him, sometimes he gets into play mode and puts his mouth on my hands.  I’ve noticed though that it may have to do with the tone of my voice when I’m petting him that gets him excited.  So it looks like I have another thing to work on.

Christmas eve and Christmas were uneventful for Nate.  We had dinners to attend on both days which meant that Nate had to spend a lot of time in the crate.  I stayed up late with him each night just to give him a little time out of “jail”.

I still keep him on leash around the house since he is still interested in sniffing and marking (mainly the Christmas tree).  Also, the food/water bowls are left out during the day and I want to prevent any guarding issues.

I let Nate and Mocha into the back yard without leashes for the first time yesterday.  They mainly sniffed each other and then did their own thing – not really interacting at all.  Aurora has no interest in Nate whatsoever.  Nate is eating 2 cups of food now during dinner.  I’m still putting the other pups in a different room when he eats.

We’ve had a new distraction for Nate in the house since Christmas day.  A friend of ours has been staying with us and she is a big fan of Nate.  She has huskies of her own so she is familier with the Husky/Mal breeds.  We’ve made her aware of some of the issues with Nate.

Nate has been doing extremely well in the house over the past week.  In a lot of ways, he reminds me of a big puppy.  He is always interested in playing.  Sometimes, when I’m petting him, He will put his mouth on my hand as if to play.    What usually happens is that he will sit, I’ll praise and pet him and he’ll go to the ground, sometimes rolling over to get a belly rub.  Sometimes, he’ll lay on his side.  As I’m petting his side, he’ll pop his head up, sniff and sometimes try to grab (gently) at my hand.  I’ve never felt threatened by this activity but it’s something that shouldn’t be encouraged so I’m correcting the behavior as it happens.

Dec. 23, 2009.

We woke up at 6am today.  We showered, fed the other pups and loaded Nate into the SUV for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Huntsville State Park for a nature trail hike.  We met up with Rick and Delilah, Howard and Eileen.  Rick placed the backpack on Nate and loaded it with water bottles.  Nate did not seem all that excited about the backpack, but didn’t try to take it off.

We got started and planed for about a 7 mile hike.  There were plenty of obstacles such as roots, branches, rivers and tree trunks but the trails were well maintained and clearly marked.  Nate did extremely well and adapted to hiking with a backpack easily.  For pictures of the event, check out the Texas Alaskan Malamute Rescue blog: http://texasalaskanmalamuterescueevent.blogspot.com/.

After the hike and the drive home, I put Nate in his crate to relax for a couple of hours.  Once out, I kept him tethered to me as I took care of things around the house.  Both Mocha and Nate tried to initiate play which I was very pleased to see.  They would do their play bows and sit on the floor next to each other, sometime laying side by side.  Occasionally Nate would place his head on Mocha’s back, but tails were wagging, ears were up and hackles were down which I thought was promising.  I’m still not ready to let Nate go un-leashed in the house to play just yet.  Starting next week I’m considering letting all three outside in the back yard un-leashed to see how they do.

I fed Nate at the usual time (around 6pm) 1 1/2 cups of food.  Again, the other two were put in different room while Nate ate dinner.  I’ve also noticed that, if I leave the area were he is eating, he’ll stop and come look for me.  I’m going to try standing a few feet from him during feeding and slowly decrease that distance each week.  Nate was content to lounge around in the afternoon and evening after the hike in the morning.

I was a little nervous about bringing Nate home today.  Not because of his history, but because it’s  important that this experiment is successful.

Dec. 22, 2008.  After spending about 1 1/2 hours with Anna at Pet Palace going over training tips and eating schedule, we took a 45 minute drive home.  Nate sat in the back and didn’t make a sound.  He seemed quite comfortable – no nervous pacing or whining.   I had placed one of my dog’s dog beds in the back for him to lay on and sniff.  After arriving home, I went inside and put the other pups in another room, brought Nate in and let him briefly sniff around the house while on leash.  I let him outside off leash to sniff the backyard and take a bathroom break.

Once back inside, I casually chased him around the house to put him back on the leash.  As he walked passed the Christmas tree, he lifted a leg to mark.  I gave my “eh eh” command and touched his hip.  He showed his teeth and gave a little growl to remind me that he didn’t like to be touched/surprised like that.  Especially there.  I realised that I had made a mistake and that in a lot of ways, training Nate would be different from the way I have trained my pups and different from any other foster that has been at the house in the past.

Once the leash was on, I let one of my pups come out to meet and greet.  Then the other.  I kept this time pretty brief.  There were no adverse reactions, just the usual tail wagging/ears up.  I could tell however that if I let it go on any longer, it would escelate to posturing for dominance between Nate and Mocha.  I pulled Nate away and I  let the other two go outside for a bathroom break.  Then Nate and I followed while he was on leash.  I made it a point to go through the door before Nate.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of a some tie-down sessions with Nate, which went well, using his food as treats (which he didn’t seem interested in) and then some rest time in the crate.  I allowed my dogs to be in the same room as Nate while he was in the crate.  I left for a couple of hours go go shopping.  Kim made it home before I did and noted that Nate didn’t whine or scratch at the crate to get out.  Later that evening, I put my dogs in another room and fed Nate 1 cup of food (less than what he nornally gets since it was his first day) on the floor in the entry way.  Once he was done, I let him out on leash for a bathroom break with the others.

It turned out to be a very good first day with Nate.  I feel that it was a positive experience for him as well.

Each morning, I am stepped on, nudged and barked at by my two huskies at 8:02am.  I’m not sure how they know to wake me up at that time but there are two things they want – to be let outside for a bathroom break and for me to feed them.

Mocha, my male, usually comes in first jumping up on the bed and pouncing on my face, chest or where ever his front paws happen to land.  At 55 lbs,  it’s never something you can prepare for.  The sheets provide some protection from his nails as he paws at my head to wake me up.  I usually get a 2 second warning as I hear his approach.  Almost without thinking, I pull the covers over my head.

Aurora, my female, is more stealthy.  Almost cat like.  She walks in the room softly and hops up on the bed.  Unfortunatley their is no distinction between where the bed ends and my body begins as she steps around looking for a good spot to lay down leaving half of her body on the bed and the rest on me.  She is not light either.

Then the random shaking begins, like they’re wet and they’re trying to dry off.  They always have their collars with their ID and vaccination tags.  the shaking can be as effective as any alarm clock at times.  All of this is followed by the wooing and short barks.  In the past, I have put them outside the room and shut the door, but this only makes the wooing louder and they also scratch the doors, so leaving the doors open helps  them last a little longer.

There are mornings where it would be nice to sleep in, and sometimes they decide to come in and just lay down for an extra hour which is nice (but rare).  I wouldn’t have it any other way.