PetSugar

What Do You Know About the Border Collie?

PetSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:00:07 -0700

I was sad to see the high energy (and noisy) Leroy leave Greatest American Dog last week. This Border Collie was super sharp – some consider the breed to be the most intelligent of all pups – but how smart are you in your knowledge about them? Test yourself in this quiz.

Photo courtesy of CBS

Take the quiz

Reward Good Behavior Instead of Punishing the Bad

PetSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:00:30 -0700

I know January's the beginning of the year, but for many lucky kids (pets are like our children, right?), September kicks off a whole new start. In honor of back to school, I'd like to add even more advice and tips from me – and all of you – to the site!
Do you have problems you want to work on? Submit them to my Pet Peeves group. I'll be tackling them as they come in . . . and even asking the rest of you to chime in as well. Just think of this as your own support group for your furry friends.

To start it off, I wanted to share a simple training trip I learned from Teresa (of Greatest American Dog):

We use positive reinforcement and clicker training a lot. When Leroy does something that I like, I click and treat. It's not necessarily food, I could use a ball or a frisbee as his treat. When he does things that I don't like, I redirect him to something else that he could be doing. So it's not 'no, no, no, no,' it's what else can I give you to do so you can't do the wrong thing . . . so you can get praised which leads to the right thing being repeated. I'm trying to get as many correct things out of him as possible.

Source

Greatest American Dog Recap: My Chat With Teresa!

PetSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:30:53 -0700

With just one (!) more episode of Greatest American Dog, I got the chance to chat with Teresa, who was eliminated last week with her Border Collie, Leroy. We talked about her water-loving pup, and I got her side of the story on those controversial snarl bands. Learn all about Leroy's barking, his new BFF, and much more in the interview below.

PetSugar: How's Leroy doing with the barking?
Teresa: He only barks in a high-energy performance setting. He's sitting right by me now . . . no barking. Practice time . . . no barking. Performance time . . . barking. He just loves to do it and it's part of his style. It's getting slightly better but it's going to take some time to get it to be perfect. I need to figure out how to keep his brain more stimulated (if I do the same things over and over he gets bored). It may make things harder for me but, if it makes it easier on him and curbs some of the barking, then that's what we'll have to do.

PetSugar: What was your dog's favorite part of this experience?
Teresa: I think it's pretty obvious that he loved the pool and to be able to let loose and not be under tight wraps all the time. He's loved water since he was a puppy. Normally I try to get him to at least look at me because there are times when I don't want a sopping wet dog, but for the most part he did listen and it is a good impulse control exercise for him. I tried to let him swim as much as I could – he probably swam at least 45 minutes every day – and we don't ever get to do that at home.

PetSugar: Did Leroy have any special friends on the show?
Teresa: Laura and I clicked immediately and we've become the best of friends since then. In such a short period of time I feel like I've known her since like kindergarten. We just had little tags made that say "Be" and "Fri" on one side for Preston, and Leroy wears on his tag "st" and "end," so when it comes together it says "Best Friend." Preston looks like a little, white toy breed, but he doesn't behave like that – he's a giant dog wrapped up in a little Pomeranian body. Leroy normally doesn't like other dogs as much as he likes Preston. He has his circle of friends, and Preston really broke through that circle and has become Leroy's friend, East Coast or West Coast.

PetSugar: And favorite toys?
Teresa: Anything that you can throw! If you throw the top of a Tupperware container, he's going to think it's a frisbee. You throw something round, like throw an apple, he's gonna fetch it and think it's a ball. He also really likes any kind of toy with things hanging from it like a Wubba – he'll shake it and shake it and hit himself over the head . . . I think that's what it's for?

Finally, hear her side of the "angry" challenge when you read more.

PetSugar: How do you feel about the use of the word "angry"?
Teresa: Angry was by far the hardest word. I don't necessarily think it was an appropriate word, but we just assumed that everything had been approved. Leroy does bite a lot at things that are out of control, like water or hoses or air, and I thought that we could do it. We used spray bottle and the hose to try to get him to show his teeth, which he did. You don't see that I'm clicking and rewarding and doing all of that as well; they cut that positive part of it out, and I can understand how it looks controversial. But he does bite by the pool, you see him bite at all the water [in last week's episode]. I thought I could teach the snarl first without using anything.

PetSugar: So then you went to the snarl bands . . .
Teresa: Laura had mentioned the snarl bands and that it would help with the stress of having to learn this in such a short time. He didn't love it but little puppies don't love collars, other dogs don't like harnesses or gentle leaders. I took one of the two avenues and I don't feel that it was inhumane; we were just trying to get the snarl and reward as best as we could. We got the shot really quickly and left the photo shoot early . . . he got to play a whole lot in the studio so he didn't leave there with any kind of bad taste in his mouth.

Source

Greatest American Dog Recap: My Dog Can Fly!

PetSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:00:00 -0700

First puppies and now an elephant?! For last night's episode of Greatest American Dog, the remaining humans (Travis, J.D., Bill, Laurie, and Teresa) had to get their pets (Presley, Galaxy, Star, Andrew, and Leroy) to sit in a circle as an elephant approached them, made tons of noise and flapped its ears, and eventually got close enough to pick up a banana placed nearby. It came down to a faceoff between Presley and Andrew, and the smallest pooch there (Laurie's Maltese) didn't move a muscle – wow! Next, it was a course finishing in a doggie zipline – that J.D. and Galaxy made look like a piece of cake – but, unfortunately, two dogs (Star and Andrew) wouldn't take that leap. In the end, the judges chose to send Bill and Star packing which made me sad 'cause I was totally pulling for them, but happy since I got to chat with him this morning. . . . and, yes, he's just as sweet on the phone as he looks on TV:

On meeting an elephant for the first time: You remember, we've got our back towards that elephant? I'm watching Star and saying "sit, stay, sit, stay" and her eyes are getting bigger and bigger and it's like one of us has got to move, I hope she tells me when I'm supposed to move! That was thrilling to me, just thrilling.

Learn what happens when Star meets the elephant for the second and third (?) time when you read more.

On meeting an elephant for the second time: Although she didn't win the challenge, later we were able to go over and visit with the elephant. Star actually ended up sitting on one of the elephant's feet and it was a positive atmosphere. They didn't want dogs to be afraid of big things running at them anymore. The elephant actually took its nose and smelled all over Star and she just sat and looked at it – I asked the guy what it was doing and he said the elephant's never seen a dog like Star so he's smelling and remembering so that, the next time he sees one, he'll know what that is.

On meeting an elephant for the third time: I feel comfortable now that if there's an elephant charging down the street here in Flint, TX, Star will sit right there and watch it go by.

On preparing for the zipline challenge: I got up there and worked with her during practice time. I shook the platform and the guys up there at the top said "don't shake this," but I banged and clanged up there for Star's benefit. I knew the wind might be blowing and it might shake so I wanted her to understand that everything's good and it's fine for your feet to move underneath you.

On doing the challenge: When she got to the edge in what you saw last night, there was one point where I actually thought she was going to jump. Then she said "nah, dogs ain't supposed to fly, my boy" and I read that. She was like "I'll sit right here and you figure it out, Bubba." I saw that expression but I spent a good 10 to 15 minutes trying to get her to jump off that.

On not jumping off: I appreciate her not jumping off that ledge. She was smarter than I thought because we work in some areas where it's high-rise parking garages and, maybe she then thinks it's OK to jump off something chasing a bird? I feel comfortable knowing she did the wise thing, she was wiser than me.

Source

Greatest American Dog Recap: "Salvador Doggy"

PetSugar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:59:06 -0700

It was another doozy on Greatest American Dog. With dancing last time and now painting this week . . . how much more can I take? I had the chance to chat with Laura yesterday – and decided to recap the latest episode with some of her comments. She was super sweet so stay tuned for more from her later on.

On last night's show: In the beginning of the episode, Preston still has the black mohawk from the night before which was the "dancing with the dogs" night. We were given the task to paint at about four in the afternoon. We had a lesson and, by the time we could start painting, it was nighttime – California (Agora Hills) at night with short hair, he was chilly. He was so exhausted – you know your dog, you know when they're just not themselves and I just looked into his little eyes glazed over like 'Mama, I'm having fun but I kinda just want to sleep in, I don't really feel like painting.'

On the painting process: We didn't get started until about noon, not because I was lazy. That's why I was really trying to be intricate with the stencils to prepare things for him to do. What the cameras didn't show was halfway through the day, it started raining and we had nothing done. Rather than having him paint in the rain, they didn't show me making stakes in the ground and taking a tarp to put a cover over him so that he wouldn't get wet and he wouldn't be cold. He was just so tired that I tried to make it as fun as I could have.

On her bond with Preston: He represents the bond I wish I had with my mom. I lost my mom to breast cancer when I was six and that's what that whole painting was about and I had explained to the judges and clearly they could care less. It's a dog, a dog doesn't know the difference between a heart and a pretzel, he did the best he could. When he's supposed to paint a picture of the love that we share and doesn't feel like doing it, I'm not going to make him paint any more than he really wants to.

On their performance: I'm doing what my mother would have wanted, if she was in that situation – she said to the people in my family before she died, 'Make sure my daughters do what makes them happy. Make sure they live every day and every moment doing what's best for them. I don't care about money, I don't care about education, I just want my daughters to be happy.' It was so emotional thinking about my mom and this incredible bond I'm so lucky to have with my dog. I felt bad that's why we went home and was disappointed in some of the comments considering it was supposed to be judged on the message and he used like nine different techniques, even though he was exhausted. I know Preston has lots of skills and maybe painting's not one of them and that's fine – I still love him more than anything.

What about her call-out on Beth Joy? Find out when you read more.

On her comments about Beth Joy: People have to realize that for every five sentences that you say on camera, you've probably spoken for about 30 minutes. I really respect Beth Joy and know she loves Bella Starlet more than anything. Her and I are very different in the way that we take care of our dogs and I don't necessarily agree with a lot of the things that she does and I felt really bad that it seemed like I completely threw her under the bus. It was just the fact that her dog has issues with her paws and she finished her painting about four hours earlier than everyone else – we all wondered why she tried to get through so quickly and not try to make it a little more positive and a little bit less stressful for Bella Starlet. Clearly she wasn't going to hurt her it was just like, you know, why are you still here? Really, why did Ron and Tillman go home last week, why were Michael and Ezzie kicked off the first week? We like you but you probably shouldn't be here, your dog's crying.

On the outcome: Travis felt bad. He's probably the most patient person in the house who was really sweet to get to know Beth Joy better than anyone else and did the right thing in defending her. It looks like it was Travis versus me in last night's episode but I happened to be the first one on stage and the judges poked and prodded about what was going on with Preston and I, asking 'well, was any dog overly challenged in your opinion?' and then they take it out of context and make it seem like I just threw it out there and volunteered the information when really my painting had nothing to do with Beth Joy. I think people at home, they know that both of us love our dogs. It's a show, they want it to be dramatic. All of us are friends. Travis and I adore each other. Laurie, Teresa, and I are good friends. We all respect Beth Joy so I hope that the public sees that, at the end of the day, we all tried to do what was best for our dogs.

Source

Do Tell: Did You Agree With Use of Snarl Bands?

PetSugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:30:31 -0700

Of course I tuned in to Greatest American Dog yesterday and, wow, it was a night of surprises! First off, I loved the first challenge where owners had to predict if their pets would take or leave a variety of temptations from sticks to steak – I know North would have been all over that one! Then, for the main competition, each duo drew an expression out of a hat – they had to somehow get their top models to strike a pose and depict that emotion. Teresa had some difficulty making Leroy show "angry" so she used an unconventional method to force his snarly face.

Although she was not eliminated, I don't think this strategy sat well with the other contestants . . . or the judges. Tell me what you think in your comments below.