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Cake, Wakinyan & Fenris


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Don't know anything about dock diving. Kaposia's only exposure to big water has been the M28 beach of Lake Supeior, just splashing and wading. As to those coyotes, even here in the suburbs after dark Kaposia only goes out on leash for potty breaks. We used to see a lot of feral cats in our neighborhood...not any more. We often see a pile of rabbit fur here and there in neighborhood yards while out on our walks. Caution is definitely warented. The classes sound like a lot of fun! (Because of or in spite of the non-conformists, depending on your take!) The picture in my mind of the summer salts is hilarious. The most recent homework we had at Kaposia's class was to teach the dog a new trick. I bought one of those battery operated round push button lights and put it on the floor for Kaposia to press on with her paws. It's slow but sure, she paws the light firmly enough to make it light up, but not firmly enough to click and stay on. Sorry the photos are blurry, but you get the idea. Just now as I took those photos, she hit it hard enough to stay on. YAY!

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Tayamni is certified Therapy Dog. She is now therapy for me. ^_^ since I can't go out much anymore - hopefully that's temporary.

 

Cake might make a good Therapy dog?????

I understand the summer salts on the teacher, Coffey does that to one of his physical therapists. They way Coffey does it, it reminds me of him tumbling in a dryer!

 

I've seen dogs dock jumping. that is the same as dock diving??? (running off a dock, catching air before landing in the water?)

 

Tayamni is a submarine so she wades in and swims around the lake with her vest on. (Vest so she doesn't walk on the bottom)

Coffey swims very well but doesn't like the water. I wonder if he would take to dock jumping and he wouldn't know he's in the water until he's already there?

 

I wondered how you would do dock diving in the winter up there .....

and then you mentioned chlorine. GOT IT :)

 

Good luck with Fenris and the therapy training!

 

 

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Denise, sorry you are a bit house bound. Wish we lived closer! At least you have the 2 Goofuses for joy and entertainment. Thanks! We are looking at the Therapy Dog International test (14 test steps). I think people would really like to hug cake but she won't down on command. She doesn't see the point. I think with the AIDs they do a lot more thinking about the obedience vs the german shepherd. He might not see the point or think I'm asking something stupid, but seems duty bound. I am not the best dog trainer. The AIDs are more independent - I think that's part of what having a "primative" dog means vs a working dog. They had to think for themselves a lot more.

 

I love that Tayamni is a submarine. I'd love to see that.

 

Lakegirl, Kaposia's light tricks sounds awesome. I took Waki to dance class when he was a pup. He got depressed because we weren't allowed to socialize with the other dogs. Therapy dog class was a break through for him because he still disliked even the training building. Cake hasn't been to any classes. Because the classes are so devoid of contact between the other students and trainers I think she'd also be turned off. It's weird. You're in this class full of dog people and dogs but contact is frowned upon. I guess they worry about liability and fights / bites. Oh well.

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It must depend on the class and the instructor philosophy. Our class has dwindled from 6 down to 4. One dog was far too reactive and needed individual attention, and one owner had some kind of injury that kept her from working with her dog. This class definitely doesn't discourage contact. There are two periods of play time with the dogs off leash, and sometimes I think the instructor lets the rough play go a little too far, but then I'm a protective person...kids, dogs. He does intervene though, I guess we have different limits. No injuries or disasters so far. When going through the exercises and tests, he has the owners switch dogs sometimes to see how they behave with a stranger working with them. Each class also has a period of discussion where he asks a question, and has each owner give their take on the subject. He covers topics like dog safety, and how dog and human psychology differ, and how it is so important not to "humanize" your dog (as in not babying them when they exhibit fears, etc.) So far it's been worth the price of admission.

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I had the opposite experience with class.

These dogs sometimes get so far ahead of the rest, that they get bored.

As a first time dog owner, I did not recognize what was happening.

 

But my dog did teach me...

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Allison there is truth to that! It took us a while to recognize the pattern. We had these long downs while other "contestants" had their turns. Waki would get bored and make some dog signaling at Fen. Fen would slide over (technically still in a down) to Waki and Waki would (subtly) talk to Fen, poke at him and get him reved up. Giant Fen would then break his stay with great obviousness while Waki would scoot over a little and straighten his halo. Fen would get corrected. So we moved chairs and then Waki would "swim" on the floor because that was technically still down but more entertaining. I think if he liked the people he'd totally get how to be in the actual therapy situation. He likes most people. On the other hand, it's really important to have an obedient, well behaved giant GSD so we put the calories there for now. No one ever looks like they might pee their pants over a first encounter with Cake & Waki.

 

LakeGirl oh I WISH our classes were like that. When Fen goes to 1:1 training there is that philosophy in that facility but it's too far for anything other than board and train. Fen even is used as a socialization dog for dogs with issues (he learned from the best - they think it's historical & unique how he moves and uses his bottom - anyone with an AID would know where he got his moves). We got to sit in on one of those. The other dog (her first session) had on a muzzle and they just played / built confidence in the other dog. They talked to the owners about good dog body language and how to recognize it. How great that you have that on your door step!

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Ha HA --thats what happened to us --Zuni would do what he was asked on his "turn" and wait a while and then just bark at me...this is boring ..i want to play with those dogs...the trainer congratulated us on making it through...he is much better in agility i think obedience is too slow for these guys.....

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  • 4 weeks later...

IMG_2544.jpg Hey psst, hey. Mom thinks we need another AID like me to balance the pack. Not saying bro Fenris is bigger than me but I'm the one walking under his belly. Cake thinks he makes a good pillow, or something. IMG_8516.jpgDad still needs some convincing. IMG_2560 (1).jpg Merry Christmas everyone!

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  • 1 month later...

Fenris passed the Therapy Dog International test last week end. Part of the reason I am so proud of him is because the chapter hasn't had a German Shepherd. I know that there are very few GSDs that could do this. I think almost all AIDs could, with a decent trainer, or even a mediocre one like myself. I have not yet decided if I will test Cake or Waki. They are totally content w/o a "job", unlike Fen. I do think that they would be proud if they understood what just happened because they raised Fenris and I would put $ on them influencing Fenris in all ways including epigenetic ways. FYI Waki regularly licks Fen. Legs, teeth and face. We call it "shining his race car". Also Fen points just like his "parents". On epigenetic "Lick your Rat" : https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/rats/

Edited by Sherab
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  • 3 weeks later...

This is awesome. Congrats on the excellence of the training endeavor. I know it is VERY intense.

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  • 4 months later...

Noah’s mitten and a visit from Loki.

 

Today we are in the glorious Yoop once again. It is our first camping trip and we were only just able to get the camper out of the barn because mud season has run from March until …well hopefully it will end soon. In fact it rained hard just after we got the camper out, making the paddock a mud bog once again. The dogs don’t care. They have developed fins and webbed feet. So here we are in the Yoop. Back home, “down state” some guy named Noah is rounding up animals by 2’s but up here we’ve actually seen the sun. Cake and Waki are over the moon that we are camping. They are old hands at it, staying in the tent, camper or on our lot. Cake even went off lead from the screened room to the camper with out butterflying off. Guess she’s a big girl now.

 

After we crossed the Mackinaw bridge we stopped at a rest stop that had a stuffed 100 lb “black” Wolf (it was more coffee colored and it looked faded vs it’s photo) that was hit on the road nearby. I wanted to take a picture of Cake next to it for all the folks that ask “is she’s a wolf?’, but No Dogs allowed. Afterward we marveled at how “wee wolf” was only 15 lbs bigger than Fenris. When we first came to Michigan we read in the Great Lakes Pilot (with accompanying photograph) about the Giant wolves of yore that roared “like lions”. The “last” was shot in 1935 by some hunters from Flint. They propped it’s mouth open and mounted it on the car such that they were able to frighten some people, farm animals and a horse pulling dairy cart. Good times. Lest you think there are no such levaithans left, 7 years ago someone Up Nort somewhere posted about a 230lb wolf and was smacked down by a 280 lber taken in Minnesota.

 

The Yoop still has a strong French imprint on the East side but the middle north is still very Norse. You feel a shift into tales of Trolls, norther lights and mischievous magic.

 

Waki is part Bear Dog, ya? Last summer we had a large black bear in the neighborhood after the July 4 fireworks. So I have a sense of how the AIDs act when there’s a bear in the neighborhood. Weird. So here we are in the glorious Yoop. Home of lions, wolves and bears. My husband tells me he is planing to ride his bike Way Over Dere, No Where Near Where U Plan to Hike. Off he goes. We (Cake, Waki and I) then depart and are walking on a glorious trail through wild flowers above a crashing stream. Heavenly fragrances of hot pine needles and mats of wild flowers waft around us on the breeze. We cross a rickety bridge and the dogs alert in a funny way. Waki is jumping in the air to catch the scent. Jump Jump Jump Jump. Cake is straining. The cotton woods are shedding fluffies so hard it’s like we have an inch of snow here but I notice something with big feet has just come to drink. I can’t tell just what. The dark holes that have disturbed the white fluff are ill defined. The dogs are being even weirder. I decide to turn around. You, know there are wolves up here…and it becomes clear that something is following us on the ridge above. We keep gong and the dogs keep signaling and signaling and signaling up the hill towards the ridge. I’m watching but I can’t see what it is. I’m thinking I should have brought pepper spray. Once we get near camp it’s gone. We get back to the camper and Scott rolls up. He was following us on the ridge! Later I notices I had some black fly bites on my neck. Seems I was visited by Loki.

 

We missed our Memorial Day visit with Waka, Kona and Lilly due to Scott traveling to Texas Thursday and bringing home That Which Shall Not be Mentioned. No I did not get a puppy. That Which Shall Not be Mentioned brought back PSTD memories of the Terrible Camping Trip of 2012. Imagine an epic gale blowing off Gitchi Gumee. A harbor bell’s incessant tolling and Let’s Just Say that was the year we decided having a full bathroom in our own camper was a necessity because little kids, germs and shared restrooms…in other news, Cake went to fat camp. It worked well. We took off a few pounds. She was isolated from Fenris (the shepherd) who was going into the pantry, steeling crackers and feeding her on the sly.

Edited by Sherab
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We'll be visiting the Yoop late July/early August (depending when the tenants move out of the rental house.) Just a few short days and a working trip to assess what renovations need to be done before the house is rented again, but ALWAYS have to make time for some hikes in the woods. Oh ya...the black flies...we learned to wear brimmed hats and head nets when picking blue berries! I should take some pics of the paw prints we often see on our property UP dere...either very large coyotes or wolves. Yup, Noah could do a respectable business here in Illinois, too. Rain almost every day, sometimes very heavy....mowing the lawn twice a week! Mid August six of us are making a "girl's week" of it at the Point Betsie Lighthouse. (No dogs, sadly...Kaposia will have to stay home and take care of Papa.)

Edited by LakeGirl
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That sounds awesome. The weather up here is perfect. I do think the wild flowers are about a week behind. Somewhere in this camper I have those nets! It's not nearly bad enough for it yet. Just mosquitoes, gnats and deer flies. I just forgot to put on insect repellant because there were many delicious little children here over the week end and I thought there were no bugs. Then most of the children left. Surprise!

 

The dogs really loved the shoreline walk over by Sugarloaf. They get to swim a bit. So just what are "black flies" or black "lake flies" and what is the season? I have heard stories but we don't think we've "experienced" it. I mean there WERE flies at the lake shore and they looked like black house flies. Some were biting flies but it wasn't like the stories - "and then the cat fell over because it had too much blood taken and we found the moose had suffocated because the flies were so thick..."

Edited by Sherab
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The black flies are very small compared to a house fly, not much bigger than a gnat, and you don't feel them land, or even crawling through your hair, which they are prone to do. Back in Minnesota we used to call them vampire flies because they do leave a small trickle of blood when they bite. Our family had a pop up camper back when I was in high school, and one particular trip to the Boundary Waters in late June/early July, the flies were particularly bad. I remember walking to the bath house in the campground, and by the time I got there, the front of my shirt and pants were covered with the little buggers. We tried to keep them out of the camper, but the next morning when we woke up, my dad, mom two sisters and I looked like something from a horror movie with little trickles of dried blood all over our faces from the fly bites. In 2015, we went wild blueberry picking near Marquette with friends of ours. Didn't feel a thing, but they got into my hair and scalp and the next day my noggin was covered with itchy goose egg lumps. Had a chiropractor appointment a few days later, and when Doc took my head in his hands to adjust my neck this look of panic spread over his face. I just laughed and said, "Black flies...Upper Peninsula." Being the good ol' farm boy he was, he just let out a belly laugh. The stories seem exaggerated, but they're not. Right now in southern Minnesota they're so bad they're actually a threat to livestock.

 

Glad to hear dogs can still be on the beach at Little Presque! From what I hear, the beach out along M28 is almost non existent because Lake Superior is so high. The ice out crushed all the wooden stairs down to the beach and the county wasn't planning to repair them this year.

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Oh so maybe we did get a little experience of the black flies. I did get 3 goose eggs. Scott got one with the blood. Very goth. Glad they are not bad at the moment. We did not feel a thing until after.

 

Yes the beach is a bit shorter than it was last year but the protected side at Wetmore landing is very beachy still. Many locals out swimming in the protected waters & and dogs too. The slipper orchids are out also. We did walk part of the way along what I assume is a boot leg trail that went from the west side of Wetmore towards little Presque (near the stairs to Harlow Lake Road) along the shore line. It's very badly washed out. Much wind and wave action. In fact we quit and turned back after 1/10 mile, getting tired of climbing over felled trees or bushwhacking around collapsed sections. Thought what was ahead might be unstable. The maintained and marked trails were fine. I was surprised to see all the life preservers and warnings at what I had read was a "crossing" over to Little Presque. It was our first time on that part of the trail and I had read people wade to the island but it was very clear from the lake level that a boat or jet ski and calmer weather were a requirement.

 

Don't know about the M28 beach /stairs.

Edited by Sherab
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We've done the wade across to Little Presque, years ago when our son was at Northern....fools that we were! Just followed the kid and his girlfriend into the lake. No warnings or life preservers back then. It is treacherous, even with what looked like fairly moderate wave action, and we had Granddog Sierra along too. Anyplace there's a tempting little island that looks not too far off shore, undertows from receding waves are dangerous.

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