6-22-24 RC Homework. Student Kat/Niko

My name's Katrina, but please call me Kat. If I am anything, I am long-winded. Please be patient with this short novel, and don't hesitate to skip to the end if you get bored. 😊

I got my first dog when I was probably between 10 and 12. I was a troubled youth, my grandparents' neighbors had chocolate labrador puppies, I asked my mom for a puppy and she allowed me to bring one home. 

I had no training experience, I can't even remember how old I was! At the moment I can't even remember his name! Charlie, I think it was. 

Charlie ate one of my school books, Charlie ate my homework, Charlie dug up and ate the bathroom floor, and Charlie went to the pound. 

I know. 

I really hope Charlie found a better home than mine was for him. I still feel shame tied to how I failed that puppy.

My mom put the primary burden of responsibility for everything that happened with Charlie on me, and told me I would not be able to get another dog until I could prove I was ready to take care of it. In the meantime, I moved to live with my grandparents, two hours away. My mom found a book written by the Monks of New Skete- I want to say it was the Art of Raising a Puppy- and I read it. I studied it. And when my mom's friend had German Shepherd puppies and my aunt offered to contribute to the purchase of one, I brought my Mandi home to my grandparents' house.

My Grandpa said a German Shepherd was far too large to be in the house, and lovingly dubbed her a German Chihuahua, instead. When I was home, she was inside, when I wasn't home, she was in a kennel outside. When I came home from school on wet, muddy days, her tail painted the walls to my bedroom. (Grandparents are really magical people.)

I worked with Mandi following the Monks' guide, and she was my best friend. When my Grandpa said purchasing agility equipment would be too expensive, I used a large old plastic pipe our neighbors left on the edge of our property as a tunnel and taught her to run through it. I taught her to jump through hula hoops. I took her to junior high for one of my classes, complete in a diaper and one of my school shirts and a pair of shorts when she went into heat, to show off her amazing skills. 

My experience with Charlie and Mandi taught me to be prepared, and I have an almost pathological inclination to it, now. They also taught me that training and dedication benefit the dog as well (or more than) the handler. There is nothing better than a well-balanced dog.

Mandi was far from perfect- she was terrified of men. She actually bit two missionaries. One on the face when he tried to hug her, and another on the bum when he was pretending to beat up my brother. I have to admit, I was a little proud of the bum bite. I recognize now that I could have helped her avoid those experiences, if I had only learned the tools necessary. 

I graduated high school and left for college. My Grandma told me Mandi would howl after I came to visit and left again. Years later, after I married, I finally found a way to bring her with me. We tied her in my husband's parents' back yard while we found a place to live. I gave birth to our oldest son who suffered a hypoxic brain injury in utero and has since been diagnosed with autism. We found a little apartment near Liberty Park in Sugarhouse that would let her stay with us. I finally had my best friend close by, again. 

By this time we were treating Mandi for pannus and she has started showing signs of hip dysplasia. About a year later, my son was leaning against our couch, got angry about something, and threw himself down on Mandi's hips, hurting her. She corrected him with a bite to the face. He had a single pinprick on his nose, no other broken skin. But that experience terrified me. I was so grateful to her for catching herself. My grandpa wouldn't let me rehome her and, instead, she went back home to live with them as an outside dog. A few years later, when living in Cache County while Graydon got his Master's Degree at USU, I drove to my grandparents' house and helped carry her to the grave my brother dug for her in their garden. 

I carry some shame about Mandi, too. All of life is a classroom, and I tend to learn most from the ways I fail. I am a bit of a perfectionist, so the failures follow me especially. My next dog, I vowed, would never be sent away. 

We decided once Graydon was done with school we would get a puppy. About a year before that, concerned that my four boys were too fearful around dogs, we had a therapy dog, Patrick the doberman, come to our house a few times to acclimate them. Patrick was a great dog. He helped my boys so much and prepared them for when it was finally time for mom to bring home a puppy. I did hours of 'research' online about which breed would be best for us. I'm partial to large breeds, but had young children and did not want to risk a repeat of what happened with Mandi. I was leaning toward golden retrievers, until I saw a Dogs101 on the Leonberger. 

My son William's school work.

(I was planning on getting a female puppy before this.)

A giant dog, bred specifically to be a family dog, with the temperament of a golden. I fell in love, found a breeder in Washington, drove my whole clan up to meet her pack, and got in line for a leo puppy. My second oldest named him- Huckle- years before we even knew about the breed. I contacted a trainer recommended to me by Patrick's handler. 

I read books. I reread the Art of Raising a Puppy as well as How to be Your Dog's Best Friend. I also read books written by Cesar Milan, Patricia McConnell, and Pat Miller. The Monks didn't use treats but many other trainers did use treats. I learned about clicker training, positive reinforcement training, I read a so many varied opinions about dog training. 

Huckle and some of his siblings in Washington

We moved to North Salt Lake, Graydon got an internship with the BLM, and our Huckle made the long trek down from Washington to join our family. 

Huckle caught a ride with his sister from Washington.
He started in his own crate and wouldn't stop crying.
They moved him into her crate and he calmed right down.

My trainer, Edie, balanced clicker training with correction (Something Pat Miller would lift her nose at, but I appreciated). I used cooked hot dogs cut into tiny pieces, I used string cheese diced in a similar way. I used kibble, I used traditional training treats. 

Edie was an invaluable resource, and I owe her so much for the wonderful dog we have had in our family for nine years, now. Having said that, Huckle taught me the limits of treat training. He loves treats, but he loves other dogs most of all. He loves people second best. Food took a position at least three down on his list of favorites. 

When one uses treats as a reinforcer for a dog that sees another dog and couldn't give two hoots about the kibble your have in your pouch, that causes trouble. Here I recognized the limits of treat-based training. When we couldn't devise a reward that managed to compete with other dogs, we walked around a dog part with Huckle's Halti and a prong collar, attached to two different leashes. The balancing act was too much. Huckle's still a doofus when it comes other dogs. He did pass his CGC but I lost the form and never sent it into the AKC. Still- he has been such a great dog, and the trust he and I developed through learning and training with each other has paid incredibly now that he is blind (glaucoma) and depends on us to prevent him from walking into brick walls, or to guide him up stairs. 

He is seriously the best floofy idiot on the planet, and I adore him. 

Huckle and Link, an old retired sled dog
I adopted to run alongside me on my bike.

Enter: Nilsa Coconut, or NIKO. 

Niko and the Sister-in-Law of her breeder
in front of the Wal-Mart (it's complicated).

I had dropped off my husband and a few boys at a baseball game and was running quick errands one day this spring. I had to be to work in a few hours. On the park strip just North of the Walmart I saw a sign: "Malamute Puppies." After we picked up what we needed from Walmart, I thought, 'Why not? We can just say "hi."' 

The next morning after work, my car loaded with all sorts of 'new puppy' purchases, I stopped in Elsinore on the way home and picked up our "Nilsa Coconut."

I knew a few basics from the study I had done with Huckle. The one thing I knew more than anything else: I needed a trainer. I found a card I had picked up from our veterinary office ('this will come in handy when eventually bring home our next Leo puppy'). It was Roxanne's card.

It took some convincing, but after speaking with Roxanne and some of her graduate students, I decided we should give her Foundations Course a try. By the time we brought Niko home she was too old for the Mannerly Puppy course, so we dropped right into the FC.

Dogs are an investment- a healthy relationship with a balanced dog is an investment, and if anything, the Foundation Course has been an investment! I have alternated between pride - in myself and in Niko- and frustration - with myself and with Niko- but the growth we have both made has been incredible. 

We have almost finished with Week 6 in the Foundation Course. Since the beginning of the FC Roxanne has been emphatically suggesting we also participate in her Retrieve Course this summer. She advised that it will help Niko learn to control her mouth- something we are already seeing the need for with our teenage Malamute. 

Already the FC has helped develop my relationship with Niko. As we progress week by week, I am able to learn and grow alongside her, and as her developing personality presents us with new challenges, it is nice to belong to a team that can help me meet those challenges and troubleshoot resolving them, together. I have loved that working with Roxanne means having a whole group worth of a support-system. 

I love not having to juggle two leashes attached to one dog as well as a treat bag. I love Koehler's entire concept of trusting the dog to learn to choose for itself to follow you. I think this method would have been such a benefit for my Huckle when he was a puppy. And especially with as independent a breed as the Alaskan Malamute, this training method has been a real blessing to me. 

As for my expectations for this Retrieve Course- I suppose I'm hoping to continue what we have started with the Foundations Course. I'm excited to grow to a point where I can work Niko off-leash. I'm excited for my relationship with her to grow, and I'm excited to continue helping her navigate the challenges of puppy-puberty. I'm looking forward to being able to continue to work with an incredible group of people- teachers and fellow students- that have already been such great examples to me! 

Here goes nothing!