Daisy is now taking over her blog. At 3 years of age. 81 lbs, 30 inches tall, WOW how time flies, she is becoming quite versatile. Take it away Daisy…..

May 21, 2009

A day at the dog park. 

After attending a meeting for humans we drove to Connor’s Bog. My head nearly snapped off when I saw it. There were dogs everywhere running free! I barked at them from my crate as Linda opened the back hatch on the Explorer.  A black and white dog ran up to us, sniffed my crate. He was furry and cute but ran away when his person called him to run into the woods. “ Let me out” I barked, “Let me ooouuut!” What was taking her so long? Linda loaded up herself with a pack and her camera. That blasted camera has to go everywhere. Finally she opened the crate door but “Wait!” she said. The ugly orange head halter slipped over my muzzle. “Why? I was sitting, whhyyy?”  No dodging would keep it from covering my head. “Fine! Let me out.”  Once I got a load of the smells along the tree line I forgot all about the leash. I sniffed along taking in all the wondrous scents.  “Opps! Have that bag ready” I signaled.  Now, feeling much better I headed towards the path.

Chinese Chrested out for a drive.

To the left the woods looked interesting but there were two Golden Retrievers on the trail straight ahead that I had to meet. They were older and so were the humans. The humans ran their hands over my stunning self. “Yes, I am gorgeous and tall”. Linda told the story of my life, again. She never gets it all right so I told the retrievers the real story. The humans couldn’t handle the truth.  The Goldies said they were glad I have a good life now and trotted off to their homes. We walked a few hundred yards up the trail when turned back. Linda said “Lets go to another park, let’s go”. She let me run ahead dragging the leash and taking pictures of me “ Come on” I whined. “OK one pose, now come on”.

 I turned and stopped dead in my tracks. “Who was that?” 

He was tall, lean with jet black wavy hair. He strutted towards me with confidence looking straight into my eyes. My knees buckled as he ran his muzzle along my face and side. His human asked “ Is she new here?” commenting on the head halter. I’d forgotten all about it but I wasn’t listening to the human babble just then. The handsome boy circled me ever so slowly. “Yes” Linda said, “ we usually run in big fields with just our four dogs around. We are visiting the dog parks today”. 

His name is “Prince” the lady said. “Of course it is!” I sighed. “ Prince, Prince, it has a nice ring to it. Daisy and Prince, Mrs. Prince”, my head was spinning. Prince made a quick dodge to the left and then the right but I had 6 feet of leash wrapping round my legs. There would be no playing today. Linda said goodbye to Prince’s person and they walked up the trail with out even a glance back. Prince was off to survey his kingdom. I was off to the car.

We visited to two other parks.  The South Anchorage Sports Park only had a couple of cars in the parking lot. The only dogs were Golden Retrievers running with their people. Not much to

 see here. 

Back in the car we headed to Russian Jack Springs Park. It was almost 3:00 and the traffic was getting heavier. It took forever with Linda driving in circles hitting every rut and pothole trying to find a way in. Blocked by construction we turned around and headed the other way. Finally we parked by soccer fields. There was only one car in the parking lot. Again Linda put the head halter on me. It was unclear where the off leash area was. Surely these mowed fields are not the dog park. A little Shetland Sheepdog and a man walked up to us. Linda told my life story again.

Bored, I scanned the horizon for Prince. I heard voices and saw shadows in the trees. We walked towards the trees when suddenly three German Sheppard Dogs burst from the brush and charged. I held my own and told them this kind of greeting was unacceptable. Shrieks and a whistle sound came from their humans. They were holding another couple of dogs back but I had my attention on the three dogs in front of me.

My hair stood up and again standing as tall as I could I told them to “back off” in my biggest voice. The three turned and ran back to their people. They all scurried out of the park looking back anxiously. Where was Linda? Taking pictures of us. It was best that she not step into this confrontation. “That’s right just get pictures” I thought.  “It’s getting late, lets go” Linda said. I’d had enough myself.

The dog parks are fine for occasional visits. It would be better if we brought the rest of the family so I could run with dogs I know and dominate. I think I prefer my big fields and back roads of Knik but I won’t see Prince there. Meeting Prince was kismet, a once in a lifetime moment. I slept all the way home dreaming of running in fields with my Prince.  

Anchorage Dog Parks

Connor's Lake Dog Park- Off leash walking area for dogs. There are many intertwining trails around Connor's Lake. Watch out for moose!

Location: Parking area at

Directions: Take International Airport going west toward airport. At

South Anchorage Dog Park -Open waste ground area in Sports Park.

Location: Anchorage Sports Park, Timberlane &

Directions: From

University Lake Dog Park-Beautiful trails go around the lake with open fields. Trails weave through the woods with some leading to water's edge .

Location:

Directions: West on Tudor if coming from Seward Hwy. Turn left on Bragaw. Parking available across from UAA dorms, or behind AK Native Hospital on weekends.

April 25, 2008

Daisy is Responding to Group Training & I Learned to Have More Fun.

I’ve trained retrievers for field work since 1984. When we found Daisy last September, a full grown, 1 year old Great Dane/Greyhound mix, I knew I was out of my dog training comfort zone. Besides her obvious advantage of height, she had a puppy mentality when it came to her desires. Like a bratty toddler, if she wanted it, she wanted it and no correction changed her mind. Claudia Sihler, owner of Better Companion offered a private lesson with the head halter. That got Daisy under restraint long enough to introduce her to new dogs and experiences. Her desire to go see or bite another dog was stronger than any treat. The head halter allowed me to enter into potentially aggressive situations and still have control. I could see that once Daisy understood the situation, that she was not in danger she accepted the other dog without incident. However, the head halter did not teach her to control herself because there is no consequence for refusing the command. For us to move ahead and able to enjoy public places we needed more opportunity to mingle with other dogs. The new training center, Valley Canine in Wasilla offered 6 weeks of classes for $75. We started 3 weeks ago yesterday.

I instantly liked the trainers demeanor. Cheri Hagen of Stoneridge Kennels, breeds, trains, competes and shows Rottweilers. Oddly enough, in 1982 my first formal obedience class was conducted by a woman who raised, trained, competed, and showed German Sheppard Dogs. I entered my first show and obedience competitions after two sessions with her. Maybe a working dog training philosophy clicks with me. Later I switched to a show Golden Retriever trainer I quit in 3 weeks feeling we were not progressing.

The training class dogs’ progress is measurable. At last nights class, like the rest of the dogs, Daisy was much calmer. After the first class, Daisy was so stressed that I was covered with her hair. She would not “kennel” into her crate in the car, and she would not make eye contact with me for the rest of the evening. During the next week, along with our class assignments, I took Daisy on car rides everyday and practiced “kennel” into the crate using the vibrate mode on the electric collar.
Daisy was a bit calmer at the second week’s class but we were nose to nose with other dogs, weaving in and out with a few snarls and growls. I took the electric collar to make sure she would “kennel”. That is a battle I can’t let her win. Now collar wise she jumped right into her crate with no hesitation.

The biggest breakthrough came last night. Her focus was on me. I could get her attention away from other dogs more easily. Not a flamboyant tail wagger, Daisy was wagging her tail and looking me directly in the eye. She came to me when I called her attention away from other dogs having an argument. The really fun part came when we tried some tricks. Spinning and turning in a tight circle, and weaving through my legs. Daisy, a 3 foot tall dog and me, a 5’4” human, she has to crouch down to get through my legs. My daydream of dancing with this elegant dog in “Freestyle” came back. Daisy had fun too. She readily kenneled into her crate. Instead of sulking into the house, she raced to Charlie and leapt into his lap, instantly getting off realizing she forgot about her size and the “Inside Rules” for a moment.

We don’t know Daisy’s background before last September. It seems someone spent time training her. I can’t take credit for her basic obedience, she already knew it. She is afraid of some things and stoic about other things. She follows Ravens in flight as if she knows what is at the end of that rainbow, a tasty moose gut pile. She is not afraid of gunshots but she does not like to walk in mud or water. She does not like to jump over sticks. Last night at class, a light bulb went off in Daisy’s head. She jumped over an agility jump and nothing bad happened. Life wasn’t so scary and she could have fun.

I had fun as well. Training for me is not un-fun. Training is work to reach a goal. I’ve worked with dozens of trainers. Some have made me mad and some have even made me cry in frustration trying to follow their advice. I know training needs to be fun for the dogs, but last night it was fun for me too. I learned that I need to add more fun into working with my dogs. Fun needs to be another tool in my dog training bag.

July 12, 2008

Daisy's first modeling job-Geneva Woods Pharmacy

Daisy Donates Blood

On August 28, 2007 Daisy found her new humans. It was love at first sight. We’ll share what we learn because Daisy has touched our hearts like no other canine. We are learning to live with this amazing dog and humbled by her sensitivity and intelligence.