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It’s hip to be Square

Three Dogs Training has moved to using Square card readers to accept credit card charges in the field.

While it’s understandable that you’d think I was tipping my hat to Huey Lewis and the News, I’m actually going to talk about something slightly cooler than 80s retro music: behind the scenes, Three Dogs has been busy migrating to Apple from Windows.

There have been some growing pains – mostly for Lawrence – but the upsides to moving over were just too numerous to ignore.

The iPad and iPhone, for instance, really are as amazing as advertised and don’t get me started on how great (and sometimes hilarious) Dragon Dictate is.

While many of the benefits are out of public view, one that we’re really excited about is that I’m now able to swipe credit cards thanks to the Square reader. By using the reader I’m now able to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover anywhere I go.

More and more it’s becoming clear that we’re sprinting toward a cashless society, and the level of convenience Square offers is just too great for my clients not to take advantage of it.

Happy Birthday, Boo!

We wish Boo a very happy and healthy eleventh birthday!

It was eleven years ago October 31st that Boo joined our family.

There was no way we could tell that this little black and white ball of fur we saw in a stripmall fly-by-night pet store would turn into the incredible dog he did.

His mother was probably ill while pregnant, which left him with cerebellar hypoplasia – a disorder which is caused by the cerebellum not being mature at birth – that was immediately apparent in his jerky, stiff movements and overall lack of coordination. His other symptoms gradually made themselves known as it was clear that he was partially deaf, progressively lost his eyesight, and suffered from a number of cognitive disabilities.

Despite all of those hurdles, he was was able to trooper his way through training and eventually passed his Delta Society evaluation to begin his career doing therapy work.

There he was: a small puppy thrown away in front of a pet store, who could barely stand or walk and who would take over a year to housetrain, but he was the one who gave a family their son back and made national news doing it.

As much as we love him, he’s also a powerful reminder that we can’t overestimate an animal’s ability to exceed our expectations (or prejudices) based on their origins or pedigrees. Every dog, whether they’re from a shelter, breeder, or a stray has within them the same potential to shine.

(Editorial Note – I had intended on posting this on Halloween, but that little bit of snow we had left us without power until just recently.)

Holy moly – Three Dogs Training has a mailing list!

Want to get the latest positive reinforcement and Three Dogs Training news in your inbox? Join our mailing list!

We’ve been busy as beavers at Three Dogs lately, but most of the changes have been behind the scenes and out of sight.

One of them that you can see for yourself – if you look just a little over to the right – is that we’ve got a spanking-new mailing list. I thought out loud awhile back that it would be nice to have one to keep people updated with all the new things we’ve got going on and I guess someone was listening.

We’re still finalizing what we really want to do with it, but I can tell you right now what I’m not going to do with it: any of that creepy stuff like loaning it out or selling it off.

It’s easy to join – just put your email in the box and click subscribe. It then sends an email to confirm that you wanted to sign up and even lets you know how to unsubscribe – but who would want to do that?

So, if you’re interested, give it a click and join in on the fun. Best of all, it’s free!

Everyone’s looking forward to Halloween, but what about your dog?

While Halloween is great fun for us, it is often very stressful for a lot of dogs. Here are some helpful tips and products.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year becasue it involves everything a holiday should – fun, silly, and chocolate.

Halloween also happens to be the day we adopted Boo –click here for that story.

The air is crisp and kids are running around super energized and dressed strangely. There are knocks on your door constantly and there’s food being handed out from bowls that are probably at dog height.

Where to put the candy?

The bowl of candy (we know is mostly chocolate) should be up and away from the dog. Your dog should not be able to reach it by jumping or putting his paws up, or knocking it over.

Halloween activities are all great fun for us, but can you think of a combination of things that could put a dog more on-edge? (Unless, of course, you added firecrackers into the mix?)

One of the reason we like holidays so much is that they are a departure from the norm of everyday life. We do different things. We adopt different schedules. For a large number of dogs an unexpected change in routine is like fingernails on a blackboard and can set off a spiral of stress-related, unhealthy behaviors. Watch your dog for signs of stress so you can give them a break from the merry making.

Your dog doesn’t need to be right by the door. Have your dog in another room as far from the door as possible. Give your dog a stuffed kong, filled Pupsicle, or other puzzle toys so he/she is happily occupied. A stuffed bone, or goat or lamb horn would be good too.

I have written a number of blog posts on anxiety aids and are a few of my favorite OTC anti-anxiety supports.

If none of the anxiety aids or toys help and it seems like your dog is having a canine panic attack, you will want to consult your veterinarian and or a veterinarian behaviorist who can prescribe medication to help your dog (or cat, too) through these stressful holidays.

Then it will be time to call a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and/or a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant so you can work on skills and exercises for next year. So, you and your dog can have a…

Happy Halloween!!!

Goodbye, Riley

Riley, a good friend and great dog, was taken from us far too soon.

There were hundreds of fireflies serenely flying all around the yard Riley loved the night she left her family. There was no question that it was little Miss Riley telling everyone she loved them and everything was going to be OK.

The adorable, fuzzy, petite Ewok had come to Linda and her family only three years before. A cuddly, sweet, gentle soul who loved doing her “bang, bang” trick Riley was more than happy to snuggle up in everyone’s lap one minute and work very hard for Linda to try to become a therapy dog the next. Riley ultimately told Linda she was more happy just being Linda’s personal therapy dog—and she was.

While Riley’s life was short it was filled with love from her human family, her canine family and her extended family in which I was happy to be included.

Sometimes the Universe deals us a raw hand and sometimes when it does it softens the blow just a little in ways we do not even expect. Riley was around long enough to welcome and begin teaching Maggie, the puppy golden, how to be a comfort to the whole family and carry on Riley’s love of mischief while she softened the blow of Riley’s early departure.

I know that every night Linda and Maggie will look for the fireflies; to try touch Riley’s spirit one more time.