The Mindful K9

The Five F’s

The houndie extraordinaire, Farley Granger loves what he loves.  He’s a very passionate dog.  A few things on his short list-o-love would include:  treadmills, phone poles, long walks with friends, phone poles, dinner in a speed bowl, hanging out in Stanley’s kennel, anything having to do with cats, and of course – phone poles.  It’s recently been found out that Farley Granger also loves fortune cookie fortunes (yeah, I know – I’m kind of surprised as well).   Though he’ll be the first to admit that they’re really not fortunes anymore, more like adages – but, for him, officially calling them “adage cookies” doesn’t really work.

Farley Granger lets Esmé know about his much cooler job as The MK9's Twitter Dog. Esmé's response is "Say What?!"

When Farley Granger discovered that puppy Esmé had been tapped as MK9’s Facebook ambassador, after he pitched a houndie howling and baying fit, he then calmly implied that he would like to do something on Twitter (as he views Twitter as being much cooler) – and that his love of adage cookie fortunes would be a logical progression for him.

Impressed by this sensible request.  We agreed.

Hound mix and Bak Pack member

Now every Friday on The Mindful K9’s Twitter feed, Farley Granger will present one of his favorite adages – er – fortunes from that week.  And when feeling up to it, perhaps, even providing some commentary.  Sensing a depth here-to-fore absent from the houndie, he made it clear that he wanted to tweet under his formal author name:  “Farles G.”  We also discovered that in addition to phone poles and all of the above-mentioned items, Farley Granger also loves alliteration.  Hence, Fabulous Friday Fortunes from Farles was born.

If you haven’t already, please become one of the fortunate few by following The Mindful K9 on Twitter @TheMindfulK9

Presently, Stanley is campaigning for his own Instagram account… 🙂

For Esmé – with Love, and Holla!

Esmé - Bak Pak member

If you have not yet already done so – please meet Miss Esmé. She is the newest addition to The Bak Pack, having joined us on March 7, 2015. Although continuously full of dogs, our household has been puppy-less for exactly 10 years, so Esmé has been tasked with reminding all of us exactly what that is like. And I am glad to report that she is succeeding masterfully!

Named after the title character from J. D. Salinger’s short story “For Esmé – With Love and Squalor”, this young lady was born on the 7th of this past January – making her, at the time of this writing, exactly three months old.

mix between boerboel and german sheppard

 

These two are Esmé’s parents; mom is Mayhem a working South African Boerboel  and dad is Reaper – a working competition German Shepherd Dog, both are personally owned and trained by local Certified Groomer/Behaviorist/Dog Trainer – and Bevans’ own – Ellen Linthurst. Esmé and her five litter-mates are proof-positive that not all great things are planned for, and that happy accidents do happen!

Esmé will be the first dog that The Mindful K9 will have the opportunity to work with from puppy-hood through all the remaining stages of her life. We’ve raised pups before, but never with the current background, education, philosophy and experience presently at our disposal. We’d like to invite you along for the ride! Every Wednesday on The Mindful K9’s Facebook Page, we’ll be sharing her latest adventures and our progress in raising Miss Esmé. If you have not yet already done so, please “Like” our Facebook Page, so you can keep up with all the Esmé-esque fun!

My Left Foot

Not being mobile just sucks. You see, I had foot surgery almost a month ago. So I’m not supposed to be doing awesome things like walking dogs, anything that might be productive or fun. Mother Nature decided to help me out in these matters because of the extreme cold and endless snow we had been having during most of my down time. Minus any temperature degree reading is just too cold for anything – period (IMHO).

Now my dogs need some mental work so what’s a person to do? I would spend about 10 minutes every so many hours and call them from place to place then down them. These few minutes of mental work several times each day literally exhausts the pack. My home has been absent of any dog craziness during the great freeze most have been experiencing, and my own immobility.

place command when it is too cold to go for a walk

I love the “Place” command. I love the “Place” command and the use of an e-collar even more. Cheers!

@The Good Dog

Mentors and trainers from The Good Dog

It’s been a strange month here at The Mindful K9. I spent 8 days in North Hollywood, California during some of the coldest weather we had here back home. I could not wait to get out of my winter hiking boots and winter clothing. I looked somewhat out of sorts among the palm trees, blue skies and 80-ish temps.

People keep asking me about the experience, the only word I can come up with was “amazing” but that really doesn’t say a whole bunch, now does it? So what is a typical day like at The Good Dog?

The morning starts with dogs let out to potty and then dogs are walked (the walk is key to training, btw).  A threshold here, a gate there.  Cross a street – can a dog sit while you take a couple steps forward to check for cars?  Very important stuff. All that little stuff is more important than most might think. Training is not complicated at The Good Dog which is why I loved soaking up the simplicity of watching Sean/Laura/Tony and Brit work their magic.

Don’t get me wrong in thinking that these dogs were easy.  Some made very bad decisions, some were rude, some didn’t know any better and one… I actually had the opportunity to see learning disabilities in a dog – very sad. The other part of that magic is The Good Dog‘s people skills…. A bunch of compassionate folks who truly care about people and it shows by their awesome clients. I love to see people empowered!

I was thankful to be a part of clients dropping off of their dogs for training (intake) and other clients taking their dogs home (discharge). One of many lessons I soaked up was the importance and empowerment for dog owners when you use e-collar. This tool has become a favorite of mine. The ability to influence from afar and without a leash doesn’t get any better than that.  For those who don’t know what it is, think of a defuse electrical muscle toner/stimulation unit at a chiropractors office – the same thing. Learning how to use it more effectively was a huge difference for me. I was always kind of shy about using it, but when I actually wrapped my head around how it really worked – then got plenty of hands-on experience – My confidence level increased tremendously.  Thanks Sean and Laura.

I miss walking to Sean’s house from my hotel room every morning and I miss the vibe of NoHo. I really miss being wrapped up in all that positive good stuff that The Good Dog crew shared every day. What to do now that I’m back home? I get to share all this good stuff with my clients.  Thank you Sean, Laura, Britt and Tony for the hospitality, for sharing the knowledge, the encouragement and opportunity to learn even more and move forward. You guys are awesome and we love you.

You can read more about The Good Dog Training and Rehabilitation right here!