Happy Halloween

Party Animal*

*No animals were harmed in the taking of this photo (nor was any Jack Daniel's supply actually diminished).

If you snooze...

...*I* lose - so WAKE UP! Pretty sure John Lee was thinking something along those lines this morning. We set the alarm for 5:30 AM every day but Sunday. Wednesdays are long days for my husband, Brian, inevitably resulting in him getting to bed late. This morning he didn't even hear the alarm. I turned it off, let John Lee out of his crate, and we came out to the living room. Everyone else was still asleep.

Shhhh...I'm resting.

Fifteen minutes or so of morning solitude is apparently John Lee's limit. When he hit that point, he got up and trotted into the master bedroom, then barked until I yelled "ENOUGH!" He got in several barks because I was first startled, then I was laughing at his audacity.

Everyone got up, so John Lee got the reaction he wanted. Which of course means he'll try it again!

And today we learned...

... that it's not OK to chew on wicker baskets.

John Lee is no dummy. Pretty sure he remembered the lesson about the wicker basket in the bathroom. While I was brushing my teeth, he was lounging in the master bedroom, just out of my sight. But not out of earshot.

I heard "crunch" - and immediately and loudly gave the signal that it was NOT OK. Not sure how I'd spell out this sound, but it attempts to replicate the game show buzzer that tells contestants: "WRONG!" When I popped my head around the corner, John Lee was laying next to the toy basket with his mouth poised inches from the newly-moistened rim.

He looked guilty (or maybe he just looked like a Greyhound - hard to tell). Maybe he thought that since this was a different basket from the one that he'd learned was off limits, it was OK to bite it. I let him know otherwise, and then he leaves it alone, right?

Except he seems to have figured that perhaps the problem is not in biting wicker baskets, but in doing it when I am looking. I watch him for a moment, waiting for another opportunity to correct him if needed. He looks at me like, "What - me? I'm not even thinking about biting that nice crunchy basket that is just inches from my mouth." So I go back to what I'm doing, and a couple minutes later I hear "crunch."

I correct him again...watch him for a few moments for another opportunity...and he restrains himself. But I'm not buying it.

I walk back into the bathroom and sit on the edge of the tub, positioned so that I can see the basket but he can't see me. It's not long at all before he makes his move and I yell out my awful-sounding correction signal. He stops. I wait - longer this time. He tries it again - just to make sure - and immediately gets the "WRONG!" sound from me again. I wait...I hear nothing. I wait some more, then pop my head around the corner to find him lying down next to the basket looking dejected (or perhaps just looking like a Greyhound).

More freedom means more opportunities to get into trouble. I realize that catching and correcting unacceptable behavior is an important part of shaping John Lee into a good pet, and that as curious, energetic and enthusiastic as he is, he will test the limits more than some dogs. But then he has a lot more spunk than almost every dog I've fostered, and that is downright endearing.

I like this thing they call "lawn"

This is my serious face...

About the vacuum cleaner...

The good news is that John Lee is not afraid of it.

The bad news is that vacuum cleaners have electrical cords, and John Lee is fascinated by them. He tried to run away with the cord while I was vacuuming. Yikes.

Good dog!

Yesterday, John Lee got a little more freedom: time out of the x-pen without a leash, albeit in a restricted area. If he started to get into something he shouldn't have, I corrected him and he stopped and didn't try it again, even if he was still curious. Today, a week after I brought him home, we are hanging out upstairs, supervised but without being confined to the x-pen.

I think oftentimes dogs wind up being seen as problems by their owners for things that the owners directly cause, or for normal, instinctual behavior that isn't well managed.

Behavior that is unacceptable to humans such as getting into the trash or swiping food from kitchen counters has two components that are important to recognize. First, there is enabling: by leaving food on the counter or having a trash can that is easily broken into by a dog, we enable the bad behavior. Second, there is reinforcing: not closely supervising the dog while he's learning the ropes allows him to get away with the behavior and be rewarded for it. Avoid enabling and reinforcing and you'll stop most problems before they start.

With John Lee (and any other dog new to us), gaining the freedom that the other dogs in the home have is a gradual process. I want him to succeed every step of the way, so I only give him as much as I think he can deal with and I'm right there telling him what's OK and what is unacceptable. And let me tell you: John Lee is very responsive to that. Yesterday he started to put his mouth on a wicker basket, I corrected him, and he stopped. We had that outcome because I didn't turn him loose unsupervised. He did go back to the basket, but he only sniffed at it - perhaps a little longingly - and moved on. Good dog : )

He's ready for some football

Earlier in the week, I took John Lee with me to pick up our 15-year-old from Cross Country practice. That day they were using the track at the school while the football team practiced on the field.

John Lee was enthralled the second he caught sight of the players on the field. His ears were perked up, and if I'd let him he'd have dragged me to the field. Heck, he would have left me behind and taken off for the end zone if he could! We had to wait about 15 minutes for Cross Country practice to wrap up, and John Lee was focused on the football players the entire time.

I think I can understand that. Up until Sunday he had to sit in a kennel all day every day, seeing pretty much the same sights and sounds except for a few turnouts a day. When racing, there was the exertion of running full throttle every few days, so the dogs probably didn't mind lazing the days away in their kennels so much. Now that he's in a home, it's a whole new world. The sights and sounds he's exposed to must surely leave him feeling like the proverbial kid in the candy store. It's so neat to watch John Lee discover life.

Namesake

If the name "John Lee" doesn't ring a bell, let me introduce you to Blues legend John Lee Hooker. I think Hooker's "Lead Me" is an appropriate sample song for John Lee Greyhound's blog, don't you?

If you're wondering how I'm so sure this is our John Lee's namesake, check out his littermates at the bottom of his page on Greyhound Data for confirmation that there was indeed a Blues legend theme going when the pups were named.

I should take you home

On Sunday I arrived at the kennel to help bathe the new Greyhounds that had just arrived from Jefferson County Kennel Club, the track from which SEGA gets the majority of its dogs. Most of the hounds were being walked around outside; a few were in the turnout yard.

Dogs just off the track have lived in ways that often allow conditions to develop that we want to address - bathing being the first tactic on the list! But in this group of dirty dogs was one with a shiny black coat and sparkling white teeth, leaning on the volunteer who had been walking him. He did not seem to fit with the yet-to-be-transformed bunch from Florida. I walked over to give him scratches, and asked who he was. "This is John Lee," the volunteer said. I knew that name.

I only occasionally browse the Current Adoptables page on the SEGA site. I have two Greyhounds and enjoy being able to foster a third, but that maxes out our available space and budget. Still, I do enjoy "window shopping" and looking at the dogs SEGA is working to find homes for. It was on one of those "window shopping" visits a month or so ago that I saw John Lee. I'm a big fan of Blues music, and I was sure John Lee was named after Blues legend John Lee Hooker. I jokingly said "I want that dog," but didn't think much more about him. Though I love some of the names our dogs turn up with, names - like coat color - are poor criteria for matching pet to prospective owner.

So, here was John Lee, the lone dog left from a previous haul, still living in the kennel over a month after his arrival. He was eating up the attention - a very sweet, very waggy-tailed boy. I said "John Lee? Why are you still here? I should take you home with me." I was joking. Sort of. But I felt bad for him, and those who heard me say I should take him home were encouraging. Shanna H. even offered me her x-pen so I could confine John Lee while he was getting acclimated to the home environment.

When I looked at John Lee's paperwork I saw that he was not even three years old - still somewhat of a puppy, in a big-dog body. Oops. I have two senior Greyhounds, one of whom is in poor health, and wasn't sure how they'd mesh. But I already said I'd take him, and I felt like I had enough experience and help to deal with anything that might come up while he was in my care. Now that I've had John Lee for a few days I'm thinking it's good that he has the examples of the older dogs to go by.

John Lee, we're discovering, has quite the personality. He's a friendly, enthusiastic boy and the most curious Greyhound I've known to date. He doesn't seem to be afraid of anything except being alone (we're working on that), and he's very quick to learn. I'm sure we'll discover even more of his personality in the coming days and weeks, and I look forward to sharing more about John Lee here.