The Zoom Room!

For the last few years every time I've fostered a new dog I fantastized about taking the dog to agolity. I'm not sure why exactly, I guess it just looks like a lot of fun. And the two dogs I had prior to 2010 [Duval- our pit bull who has no interest in anything that requires activity, and Alex, who was just old and cantankerous ] just weren't good candidates.

Roo and I have visited the Zoom Room Hollywood a couple of times in the last year and have always enjoyed ourselves. So, when she started acting territorial while on our x-country trek, I decided she needed to enroll in a class that would challenge her both mentally and physically, as well as expose her to working around other dogs. Agility was the perfect fit. So I signed us up for an agility 1 class. Yay!

Day 1 of class was Sunday. We arrived early, and there was another class wrapping up in the training area. So, Roo had to hang out in the store, while the other class attendants arrived. This was good practice for her, though I started to worry I was going to use all of my treats keeping her focused on me before class even began! There was a litte Jack Russell terrier who barked at her as soon as she walked in. We managed to stay away from him long enough to remain calm. However, I noticed a couple with some huskies waiting outside the door, and had a feeling there was going to be a little trouble.

I love huskies- always wanted one in fact. And I bet they are awesome at agility. But I also know that huskies have a certain energy that a lot of dogs find difficult to handle. Sure enough when class started, those two dogs had a tough time handling all of the other dogs around. Which meant Roo had trouble, as did another mixed breed dog. And the Jack Russell was just being a typical Jack Russell. :) So out of 6 dogs on class, 5 of them were on and off losing it. Fun!

It was the class from hell and I truly felt for the poor trainer, who had lost her voice earlier in the day. Fortunately for Roo and I, they offered to move us into Monday's class which was much smaller. We attempted to sit through Sunday's class, but after 20 minutes, it was clear that having one less dog might make it easier. The gals at the Zoom Room said they have never had a class like that- usually it works out that they have one or two reactive dogs in a class, but not a class full of them!

So, we came back Monday night and joined Bonnie, a black and tan standard Dachshund, and Mouse, a Papillon/Terrier mix. We all admitted our dogs could be a bit reactive, but the 3 gals did very well together.

Roo loves the attention she gets in Agility Class! Actually she is a bit of an attention hog and would prefer to spend more time kissing up to the instructor than me. But when I ask she does what she is told. She is learning to sit and focus on her table. She LOVES the A frame and even tried to jump ahead and do the dog walk following the A frame even though we don't learn that til next week (show off!) She is OK at the poles- it will take time. And she was fine with the short tunnel and the tiny jump that we did.

The A Frame did get her all wound up when the other dogs went over- something about their scrambling feet and excited-ness got her barking, but we worked through it just fine.

When class was over, she did not want to leave..for real. Her noise anxiety surfaced and she did not want to go outside where she knew the traffic was noisy. And we had to push past a couple of people waiting for the next class.

Great news though- so far today (the day after class) she has not been afraid to go out for walks. She has come to the door 3 times already today- no shaking in her crate at the sight of the leash. We'll see what happens tonight....

And we look forward to class # 2 next Monday!

Roo's Noise anxiety

Hi everyone! Well, it has been a while since we posted. We completed our cross country adventure....all the way from Los Angeles, CA to Belfast Maine and back! It was a wonderful trip and Roo exceeded my expectations all the way. She was amazing in the car (though she did start to look a little depressed towards the tail end), she was well behaved off leash in the countryside, and she adjusted well to new surroundings. Her only downfall was that she did become a bit protective of her new home turf and was not so nice to a doggie friend. But it was a learning experience.

On the way we did get to try out the Thundershirt during a few short storms. I found that it worked by calming her down and putting her to sleep. And that was all I could ask- I'd rather she sleep through a storm than tremble.

Our first week back in LA was great. She went to the dog park and was happy, playing fetch, going after long balls, none of the former fear issues that had cropped up in the month prior to our trip. But then, it changed. All it seemed to take was a couple of poorly timed low level crackling sounds which could have been firecrackers or bubble wrap, and she became scared at the park again. She was hiding in her little bunkers under the picnic tables (dogs have dug deep holes under these tables and they are the perfect size for Roo to hide in. However, she would come out for people she knew, and a few throws and we'd be back in the game. Then her noise fear started to pop up in walks in our neighborhood, which hasn't happened before. When this happens there is nothing I can do to make her turn and focus on me. She just wants to get to the end of her leash and run as fast as she can back to home or the car- or anywhere she can go indoors. If we are nowhere near home this gets tricky, as it is not fun to try to make a scared 40 lb dog heel. On one or two occasions, I picked her up and carried her for about a block until we could turn onto a quieter street. But that is not ideal. And then it got worse. There actually came a time when I asked if she wanted to go for a walk and she ran into her crate and stayed there shaking as if a walk was the most horrible thing in the world. This broke my heart. It seems to happen more towards the latter part of the day- in the morning she is still feeling good and will go for a long walk.
So, today was our first day out on our little networking route since my return two weeks ago. It's taken on a whole new meaning with this new problem- there is quite a bit more at stake here. The great news is, she is happiest going into stores. But walking in between the stores, the tail is often down and any small thing will set her into fear mode. Our first stop today was Chipotle on Sunset- where we met up with a sitter to exchange keys. Anytime there is a person who wants to say hi to her she is happy- friends are very helpful! Next stop was Tailwaggers. She got lots of treats from the friendly staff who were very concerned about her problem. Unfortunately I realized when I parked my car that I had spent so much time packing my bag full of business cards and doggie treats that I forgot my wallet! So we couldn't do any real shopping.

We drove away from Tailwaggers and parked at West Hollywood Park. My intention was to walk through the park and then over to Petco. All was going well, she stopped to say hi to a young boy and was happy as a clam. But then I needed to get her attention, and she wasn't listening, so I did something I have always done- a very light tap on the side of her back leg. Apparently I must have timed it to coincide with a sound she didn't like, and this sent her into fear mode. We slowly worked our way back to the car and drove to Petco.

At Petco, once again she was in her element. She was absolutely adorable with a chihuahua puppy- so sweet and gentle ( I haven't seen her interact with small dogs much so this was great). Her tail was up and we did several laps around the store so she could feel confident again.

Then I knew we still needed more exercise. The dog park was out. Franklin Canyon was a maybe, but there had recenely been a lot of echoing hammer sounds due to home construction in the area, so I decided to park across the way at Tree People and take the short upper trail (which I learned has been dedicated to Michael Jackson) just to get a little extra exercise. For the most part she did well here. There was one small sounds which seemed to briefly upset her, but she walked calmly on the leash and I was pleased with that.

Roo exploring the countryside- July 17, 2011

Transcribed from the road, Wednesday July 13th

Somewhere in that stretch of Utah along I-70 where there is NOTHING- no gas, no services, just this.


Iowa

Up all night paying fetch in the hotel wearing her thundershirt (we were supposed to get severe weather but didn't)


Vail Bike path- obsessed with the stream.

We’re a little bit belated in updating our blog. Between 4^th of July and Carmageddon prep has kept me pretty busy with Fetch! Pet Care. In addition to that, I have also been getting ready for a cross country road trip from Los Angeles to my parents’ home in Rochester, NY. I apologize for the delay. I actually have 2 or 3 blog installments pending but just haven’t wrapped them up and finalized for posting. However I do want to give you our current installment since we are traveling cross country. It’s just Roo and me; Will and Duval stayed home in LA. So, Roo is going many places this week.

As I record this for transcription on Wed July 13th, I have just passed through Omaha, NB and Council Bluffs , Iowa, so we’re driving across the state of Iowa right now and we’re on our 3^rd day of the drive. Going backwards in time- we stopped in Omaha- I had heard there was a good dog park in Omaha, and sure enough I mapped it on our way across the state of NB and saw it was just a few miles off of our route (I-80). It was quite a nice dog park, a big dog park, nothing fancy but very spacious and Roo was DESPERATELY in need of some retrieving time. She hasn’t been to the dog park since Sunday evening, (it is now Wednesday) and last night she kept me up pretty late in our hotel room playing with the ball: losing it under the bed countless times, crying when it was lost under the bed, pacing and crying if I took the ball away and even barked at me once at around midnight. Somehow I finally convinced her to get on the bed and pass out so I could get some rest. Hopefully tonight will be better now that she has had an opportunity to wear herself out with lots of long retrieves and no distractions. She looked pretty tired.

The dog park also came, as any good dog park will, complete with a lovely mud pit in the middle. When we arrived there was a German Shepherd running around who had clearly enjoyed himself in that mud pit- splashed me with mud from his tail and got mud all over Roo just from trying to get on top of her. Unfortunately Roo later discovered the mud pit as well. She hates water but loves mud pits, don’t know why. Despite my yelling “no mud,” which is a command she knows, she just walked herself right in and as soon as she walked in she sunk about 6 inches. It was a pretty deep mud and mushy mud pit, and I had t step in to pull her out and ended up with one foot covered in mud. Thankfully it was just that one dip in the mud bit, and she ran off most of the mud and is reasonably clean at this point- not that it really matters because the car is filthy anyway.

Before Omaha, we spent the night in North Platte, Nebraska. I found a really nice little trail. We were staying at the Motel 6 (always pet friendly and cheap) which was right along the river, and I discovered a nice little paved walkway which followed the river. We went through a beautiful park, and it looked like there was a dog park inside of the park, but we were on the wrong side to get in the park and it was a little too late at night to figure out how to get in and spend any time at the park. But we enjoyed a long 45-60 minute walk along the path.

During the day yesterday (July 12^th) we were mostly within Colorado. About halfway through our day I noticed a nice little bike path running along I-70 in the mountains around Vail, and decided it would be great for us to access that and take our long midday break. It was cool and overcast so great for a little hike at several thousand feet. Not sure if we were supposed to be pedestrians on the bike path, but no one complained and it didn’t really feel like we were in the way. Roo really enjoyed the raging stream flowing along the path, especially when she saw the chipmunk scurry across. It was a beautiful path and we could still see snow on the mountains even in the middle of July!

We had spent the previous night in green River Utah (also at Motel 6). Not many places to walk in Green River- we walked up and down the main street just before dark. Unfortunately someone shot off a gun at one point and she was so upset and I was worried she would either hurt herself or snap her leash so I carried her the last 50 or so yard to the hotel. I then put her thundershirt on and she chilled out for the evening.

Earlier on Day One we had also stopped for a long walk in St. George, Utah. We didn’t have time to search for the dog park that is supposedly there, but we enjoyed our long walk anyway.

We had made a quick stop in Nevada earlier, so Roo has touched the ground in quite a few states already:

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska.

At some point this afternoon she will step foot on Iowa soil and then we’ll be spending the night in IL.

So that’s it so far this week for all the places Roo will go. Tomorrow we’ll hit Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and finally NY, which is our final destination and we’ll be there for a few weeks….and may even head up to Massachusetts and Maine! She is one well traveled little pup!

Franklin Canyon, Beverly Hills

One of my favorite places to go in Los Angeles is Franklin Canyon- it's easily accessible for us folks who live in the Valley, but also for those who live in West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, or on the West Side. So, if I want to get the dogs out for a little hike but don't have a ton of time to spend in the car, I can just shoot up Coldwater Canyon, take a right onto Franklin Canyon Drive and and park at the entrance - just through the gate.
Franklin is a great place to go when you are seeking a little peace and quiet. It's not as popular as some of the other nearby trails in the Hollywood/Beverly Hills area such as Runyon, Fryman and Wilacre. I particularly like to go here when I am taking out some leash "challenged" dogs who don't always react very well when they see others of their kind- we don't see a ton of dogs here, they are *supposed* to be on leash (but I know better and am always prepared to see an off leash pup when I am on the trails) and there is plenty of space to get myself and my dogs out of the way of any oncoming pooches.

When you are in the midst of the canyon, it really is very easy to forget that you are right smack dab in the middle of LA. It is relatively quiet, the air feels clean and actually smells of nature, and you may even see some "nature" such as coyotes, deer and the occasionally wildcat- my mom and I once spotted a bobcat up on a cliff spying on us as we walked along the fire road.
Wile I am often content to just walk the dogs along the park roads, there are plenty of off road excursions available. If you entering from the Coldwater/Mulholland side, shortly before you get to the main parking area at the bottom of the hill you'll find a fire road on your right. This road is about a mile long and nice and wide and fairly easy for even slightly older dogs to navigate though there is a gentle slope, so be prepared to come back uphill on your back to your car.

Off the main parking lot at the bottom there are a handful of single track trails- they do get quite steep, and be forewarned that you may have a tough time getting back down the steep, soft dirt slopes with a leashed dog. And, yes, there are rattlers hanging out in the bushes so keep your eyes and ears open.

If you venture past the ponds and head down Lake Road toward the reservoir, you'll find both the Discovery and Hastain trails. The Hastain trail is a little wider and probably one of the more popular trails at the park. Unfortunately, this trail has been the object of some controversy lately- the trail ventures onto private property towards the top, which for years was not an issue. But a contractor is building a home atop the hills and has been trying to limit hikers' access to this part of the trail....much to many a park user's dismay. You may encounter barricades and signs warning you about trespassing or even protestors upset by these new barricades. Kind of ruins the experience. Hopefully hikers and property owners can come to an agreement soon.

Finally, the best thing about Franklin Canyon- the park ranger/maintenance man, Saban. Those who frequent the park know him well. He remembers everyone, and always takes a moment to stop and ask how you are doing. I don't always run into him, but when I do, it makes my park experience that much more enjoyable!

Roo and Seamus enjoyed Franklin Canyon on both Thursday and Friday this past week. Photos included, though they were both being extremely camera shy (also Seamus was annoyed by some flying bugs that would surround us every time we tried to stop).

Franklin Canyon Park Place page

2600 Franklin Canyon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Spot! D.O.G. Boutique, Animal Crackers and The Healthy Spot

Today marked day ONE in Roo's new exploration of the LA's best pet spots. We targeted the area around The Beverly Center, making four stops along the way.

Our first stop: D.O.G. (dee-og-gee) Pet Boutique:
346 N. La Cienega Blvd.
West Hollywood CA 90048
Owner Christian Bryan Velasco is a very friendly, outgoing owner who was happy to visit with Roo and chat about his store and products. They have a great selection dog supplies, Designer dog clothing, dog couture, dog toys, dog carriers, designer dog collars and leashes, pet furniture, swarvoski collars, for small dogs and large dog, all the finest upscale items for your pampered dog and puppy fashion needs and much more. They also have some awesome looking (and tasting!) baked goodies for the pups. Roo was VERY interested in these. Roo met the owners two small dogs and was on her absolute best behavior here.







Our next stop: SPOT! Los Angeles: 534 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
The folks at SPOT! were quite busy today so we didn't get much of a chance to chat with them. They had an amazing selection of high quality food, and I overheard one of the ladies speaking with a customer abut the food and she was quite knowledgeable. While we were shoopping around we discovered a tower of balls- Roo's very favorite toys- so we had to walk away with a couple. We purchased a red bouncy rubber ball with the SPOT! logo on it (whihc sadly rubbed off within a few minutes of play) and a planet dog ball which promised to give 20% of the proceeds to help homeless animals. Roo tested the red ball, and though it doesn't have the bounce she usually likes, I loved the visibility of the ball. From time-to-time something spooks Roo and she loses the ball, and this could be spotted far far across the park.
Roo was pretty good at Spot!- paying no attention to the little one we saw when we came in. it was only when a happy-go-lucky lab puppy rounded a corner unexpectedly after his grooming session did she let out her mean dog bark. But she quieted right down with a little correction from me.
SPOT! Los Angeles does carry my favorite martingale collars- they can be quite hard to find in stores and I often end up ordering online. These are the nice nylon webbed martingales that slip over the head- no buckles which can break.
(planet dog ball)
(SPOT! ball before play)

(SPOT! ball during play)

Stop #3: Animal Crackers: 8023 Beverly Boulevard, Suite 1
Los Angeles, California 90048

We met Kevin at Animal Crackers who was delightful. Once again, I was extremely please with the wide variety of good quality foods. For those who like the "baked not extruded" Flint River Ranch- this is one of the only stores I've seen carrying it. No wonder people travel from great distances to get to this store. While we were there one of the regulars came in with her little boy named Oscar. Roo loves kids and was just crazy about him. You can see her looking longingly at Oscar while I tried to snap a photo of her.



Stop #4: The Healthy Spot

8525 Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069

The Healthy Spot was also quite busy when we stopped in. The day care area was full of well behaved dogs- they were being so good that Roo didn't even notice the room full of little ones. She was also quite good about the little dog that we followed in. She barked once- but it was more a "I want to play" bark. We spoke to a couple of associates who were quite busy running around helping shoppers and grooming clients. We checked out the supplies- lots of high quality foods and treats her, and a great selection of collars. Also we found this stack of crate liners/beds made from recycled bottles- this we LOVE!

All in all we had a great day and mission accomplished! We introduced ourselves to some great pet places in the heart of LA, AND Roo worked on her social skills.
Stay tuned for next week's hotspots!

Best Friends Los Angeles Super Adoption

This past weekend marked my 10th experience at a Best Friends Super Adoption. I have been attending since I moved to Los Angeles in 2005- sometimes as volunteer, sometimes as a vendor, and sometimes as an independent rescuer. As an indie rescuer I attended twice, although the first attendance doesn't entirely count because my rescue pup had such horrible leash aggression that we couldn't even walk into the event. We skirted along the outside for about 20 minutes before I simply gave up. BUT, I took that same dog 6 months later after a LOT of hard work, and she was a completely different dog. And then of course, I just adopted her. :)

That dog is Roo, and she is now my little mascot, working on her social skills by traveling around to all of the "hot" pet spots in LA so we can write about them and share with all of the other dog lovers in the city (and there are a lot of them!)



This Saturday, Roo, along with her older brother and father figure Duval, came along with me to host our Fetch vendor tent at the La Brea Tar Pits. I admit having both of them there while trying to carry on conversations with people was a little tough, but they both were fabulous and received a lot of compliments about how well behaved they were.

But down to business. What is this "Super Adoption" you speak of? At least twice/year, the Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles Chapter hosts a fabulous event which gives an opportunity to hundreds of shelter dogs, cats, birds and bunnies, as well as those from dozens of rescue groups, to get out and meet potential adopters in a warm and friendly environment. And hundreds of them usually find homes at the event, and many of the others are rescued by the wonderful rescue groups who take them in, find fosters or boarding and network them until they find their forever homes. This year the amazing Jason Debus Heigl Foundation (founded by the adorable Katherine Heigl and her mother in memory of her brother Jason) donated $50 for cats and $100 for dogs to any non-profit rescue group who agreed to take them in. So many animals were saved as a result of the hard work of the rescue community that pulled together to create an amazing event.

Kudos to the Best Friends team for always pulling it off with very limited resources, and also to the FABULOUS volunteers who make it all happen.

If you'd like to get involved with the Best Friends efforts here in LA contact Contact: brandic@bestfriends.org.