Body language at the vet's

We had another check-up with the ophthalmologist last week, and I took my camera along to document Dragon's body language.



It's a real shame that this picture came out blurry, because it's a nice shot of him looking excited but not stressed. His mouth is open in an excited pant, with the tongue resting comfortably within his teeth. His eyes are soft, not completely round. His ears are out and back a little in a relaxed position. His tail is high over his back and the fur is going in different directions because he was wagging it very quickly.

We went into the exam room, and his expression changed to this:



Wide, round eyes. Mouth open with tongue hanging out and flattened. Some people call this "spatula tongue", and it's a sign of stress. His ears are pull together at the top of his head. His tail is still high but it is no longer wagging fully and loosely.



On the exam table: more spatula tongue, and round eyes, though less dramatic than before.



I pulled over a spray bottle for him to check out and get treats for being brave. He's sniffing it, but look at his front legs: he's keeping as much of his body as possible pulled away from the bottle as he stretches his neck forward to sniff. His center of gravity is lowered so that he can move out of danger more quickly. He's suspicious of the bottle.



After the initial exam: more stress panting, and ears pulled high and back. With all dogs, reading ears, tails, and eyes is a matter of recognizing their baseline and measuring degrees. I can recognize this ear position as meaning that Dragon is stressed, but on another dog that might not be so.



I asked him to do some tricks to give him something to do and help him be calmer. His pupils have dilated due to the medication he was just given. His ears are now together and forward, on alert. His mouth is tightly shut as he concentrates.



I also tossed him treats to find, a great calming game.



He is calming down and now looking at me with a closed mouth and ears up and forward.

We got home and he rolled around in happiness.





Then he shook off, a common way for dogs to relieve tension/stress. He looks like a demon because his pupils are still artificially dilated.


Good news: his eye is healing slowly but nicely. He no longer has blood floating in the back or bottom of his eye, although there's still a bit in the front, just behind the lens. We are weaning him off the last of his medication, and recheck is in three months. What a relief for this ordeal to be ending.

Follow-up on obedience lesson with Denise Fenzi

Here's the initial report on implementing Denise's suggestions when I had a lesson with her a week ago.

The bad news first: we've regressed further with the dumbbell. We put too much pressure on Dragon during the lesson; he can be very sensitive. I tried putting the dumbbell out at a few feet away from me and I thought that he would still be okay with picking it up and I could click/treat for that. He didn't even want to put his mouth on it.

I changed tactics and decided to lighten the mood by holding the dumbbell firmly in my hand and encouraging him to play with me. He was confused but I got him to bat at my hands and push into me while I was holding it in my right hand. When he was more relaxed about the whole thing I tossed the dumbbell out farther and went back to square one: C/T for looking, for moving toward, for putting his head down toward it, for putting his mouth on it. I stopped there because I could see his anxiety increasing again.

My plan is to pull out the liver treats and reteach him the pick-up as if he didn't know it at all, and continue playing games with him while it's nearby. Crossing my fingers that it won't take us long to overcome this setback. Later I'll use a platform in front of me to encourage him to get close in and stay there as I (very, very carefully) take it. And no more practicing on wooden floors!!

In the meantime I'm working on encouraging him to bring other objects very close to me and right into my hands, rather than having to reach for them myself. Seeing quick progress on it with his toys, tennis ball, and leash tab (his first retrieve object).



Moving on, the problem with him getting up from his sits in front or at heel hasn't appeared again other than here and there when he anticipates. It's possible that I will see it again in future situations when I am more nervous. In the meantime I am occassionally extending the amount of time I expect him to told a sit and giving multiple rewards for it. Not worried about it.


Our stand for exam is continuing to improve. I've practiced setting out his tennis ball or a big treat and releasing him from a stand-stay while he's focusing on it. Then I moved on to feeling him up while he stares at it and immediately releasing him to get it. We also did three repetitions of that with my sister, whom he adores and can barely stand still for, and he did well -- the "exam" was only 1 second to keep him successful.

Other things I have decided to work on: I need to reteach the stand cue. Once he's in the stand, he's great, and he recognizes the cue in the way that I do it for agility start line stays. However his response to the stand cues (both verbal and hand signal) in front and at my side in non-agility settings has diminished. No problem, we'll just start again and be more thorough this time.

We've been working on "go and throw", as outlined in the book Agility Right From the Start. It's a simple method: line your dog up, say the word "go", and then throw a toy forward. As your dog starts to anticipate the toy being thrown and starts running ahead, you deliberately start to delay the throw so that your dog is being rewarded for running farther and farther ahead. My tossing abilities are not great, however at the park he ran forward about 10 feet confidently, which is a great foundation. This isn't just for agility -- it can also provide a good foundation for the go out in obedience.

I mentioned recently that Dragon's appetite for Primal raw food was diminished. I switched to putting it into a food tube rather than on a plate, and making a mini training session out of breakfast and dinner. This has been a phenomenal success. Not only is he eating all the raw food, but his enthusiasm for it quickly started to increase! He now comes into the kitchen and stares at me as I prep his meal. I'm even able to use it as a reward outside.

Always food woes

Clearly the Prednisone has completely exited Dragon's system, as he is back to keeping himself lean and turning his nose up at his raw food (currently half his caloric intake). After this bag is finished, I'll probably go back to feeding him entirely with ZiwiPeak and Real Meat, two dehydrated foods that are not as processed as kibble and contain high quality ingredients. To all the people who are amazed at the amount of training I do with him every single day: the biggest reason for that is that it's the only way to reliably get him to eat! Actually, that reminds me to try putting his raw into a squeeze tube next, then using it during training.

Weekly multi-sport recap

Dragon's bowels are normal again and he's back on his regular food. I still don't know what caused his illness last week but no more need to worry.

On Saturday morning we graduated from our Intro to Odor class. Dragon was introduced to odor early last year by his Auntie Miki, and at this point he's doing mostly unpaired hides. He was able to get some tougher hiding spots than the other students. He loves searching and during our first couple of runs each week he would just prance around the room in excitement before getting serious.

On Wednesday we went to a conformation drop-in, just for fun. The other attendants were experienced while I didn't really know what to do, and Dragon has never been taught to gait or stack like a show dog. However it was an opportunity to practice our own training among other dogs and people and lots of food on the floor. I kept up a high rate of reinforcement for walking at my side, doing stand-stays, and getting brief exams from the instructor. The instructor was supportive of me using the class to practice obedience stuff like heeling and the stand for exam, so I plan to drop in here and there.

Speaking of heeling, we have a 30 minute session scheduled with Denise Fenzi next week! Super excited; I haven't seen her in months due to my training budget going toward agility classes.

Today's agility lesson included our first rear cross work on obstacles. The sequence was a straight tunnel and then rear cross as the dog takes a jump. Somehow Dragon did this beautifully, turning confidently in the right direction, even though we'd never done it before! We also did front crosses with 2-3 jumps. I do much better if I practice without my dog first.

I used a relatively small amount of treats during class and mostly rewarded the sequences with tugging. Dragon was on fire and really eager to tug and wrestle. The instructor gave me some guidance with the tugging and a couple of times I was able to do two things I'd only dreamed of: just holding onto the toy and shaking it minimally while my dog happily tugged on his own, and using the tug as a transport back to our starting point (though I had to move slowly and stop here and there to let him dig in and tug). I was grinning like a fool.

Sick puppy

Dragon's been constipated and then having diarrhea on and off for a couple of days. Today he turned up his nose at both of his regular foods, though he did eat some small treats. He threw up bile and mucus (fortunately that happened in the bathtub while I was washing his butt off). We skipped agility class and he slept most of the day. In the evening I made him a most delicious dinner of brown rice and boiled chicken.



His brother would have stolen it if I hadn't been there to intervene.





I hope this illness passes soon.

Canine Good Citizen, crates, and nasty teeth

Agility class was cancelled due to rain. We did a little practice at home instead. I hauled the mini-teeter and a-frame outside. Last week I lowered the teeter's PVC frame as much as I could. The first time he ran over it he gained confidence quickly, but when it was moved outdoors, the behavior predictably deteriorated. He was just starting to gain confidence in running for the foot target at the end instead of slowing down at the pivot point when the neighbor's dogs ran over and started barking at the fence line. I could have moved the teeter into the street, but I decided to just end the exercise. I removed the PVC frame from the teeter board and put it underneath the a-frame out in the street. The a-frame's boards aren't all that thick and are a bit springy. This makes him slow down when he runs over it. Again, with practice he was gaining speed and confidence, but I'm guessing that at a certain point I just won't be able to use the mini a-frame; it'll be steep enough that he should be running up quickly but the springy boards will prevent him from doing so. That's okay with me -- I knew when I made this equipment that it might not hold up all that well. I'm an amateur builder.

At one point he started sticking his tongue in and out like he had a piece of treat stuck between his teeth. I gently pulled back his lips and was horrified to see how much plaque he's built up. In this respect, I'm a bad owner. I brush him every two or three days, I weigh him whenever I can, and I keep mental track of the quality of his bowel movements, but I have been completely neglecting his teeth. I should know better, too, since his papillon buddy Jacques has dental problems and his momma has told me how careful she is about his teeth. I resolved to start brushing his teeth very soon.

In the afternoon we went to Pet Food Express and I used the second portion of my Christmas money and a 20% off coupon I'd been saving to buy him a 21" Noz to Noz soft crate. I'd been waffling on this -- I'd heard nice things about how they're easy to set up and so portable, but on the other hand, he's a tiny dog, and am I just being lazy about not wanting to break down/set up and carry his wire crate? But I lifted up the N2N crate and it was sooo light and easy to manipulate that I was instantly sold. Plus, it was green. You'd think, based on my room, that green is my favorite color ever. When I moved into this apartment the walls were already painted green, and my laptop and comforter are green, so then I started selecting other green things to match... it just snowballed from there. I guess green is Dragon's official color -- it fits, right? (Ira's official color was purple -- he had a purple bed and leash and a couple of purple collars.)

I also restocked my supply of bully sticks and antlers and pig bones, and bought doggy toothpaste and brush.

After the store we drove to an auto shop to replace my cracked windshield. I brought Dragon's mat along. I set it down by my chair in the lobby, and he laid on it for 45 minutes without any fuss. He even laid his head down here and there. Toward the end I dozed off for about five minutes and he hadn't moved when I woke up. Good dog.

When we got home I set up the N2N crate. Dragon immediately went inside and stared at me for treats. I gave him a treat, released him, and gave him a treat for coming out. He ate it and immediately ran back in for more. We repeated this two more times and then I had to physically block him with my arm to keep him from running inside again. I'm going to start using this crate during agility class instead of his mat. I need to start early if I want him to be able to relax inside it when we're trialing. At the beginning I'll keep the door open so that he's not locked inside, he's choosing to stay in in order to earn treats. In that way, it will be exactly like his mat, but it will be a more difficult challenge since his visibility will be greatly reduced.

And now the most exciting part of the day -- we took the Canine Good Citizen test! We took it at Metro Dog, my workplace, which was a boon because Dragon is used to working there and the location has a strong reinforcement history. He passed with flying colors. On the "heel past another dog" portion, he even outshined the tester's dog, who was not in a working mood and didn't want to sit! I had him heel for the "loose leash walking" and "walking through a crowd" portions and he did beautifully. The sit, down, stay, and recall were of course no problem. He did not get spooked during the visual or sound startle portions, which was thanks to all the counter-conditioning I've done with him. I am so proud of my boy! His full name is now Cinnamon Snapdragon CGC. (Today CGC, tomorrow OTCH and MACH!)

His friend Brooky the schnauzer mix also passed the test!

The end of the day left me wondering, "How am I going to brush his teeth??" I had him hop up on the bed and lie down, so that his mouth was closer to my eye level. I put my left hand above his muzzle and lifted his lips a bit, and clicked and gave a treat with my right hand. He didn't like it but quickly caught on to the game. I probably should have broken it down further, starting with just teaching him to raise his muzzle up to my fingers. (Be a splitter, not a lumper!) The hard part, though, is shaping the action of opening his mouth and holding it open. Any ideas?

eye recheck, and agility recap: Focus and Motivation class, week 5

This morning we had another checkup with the ophthalmologist. Everything is looking good. He still has blood in his eye (it takes a very long time to reabsorb) but the healing is continuing without any problems. We are cleared to practice the teeter again!! He is no longer taking the Atropine, and the Neopolydex and Cosopt are now only once a day instead of twice. The Prednisone is continuing twice a day. The next checkup is in February.

Tonight was the last night of this agility session -- next week we become an offical Agility Foundations class!

Today was great. Dragon did not try to sniff/explore during the working time at all. His focus was nearly 100%. The only couple of snafus were when I told him to "take a break" out of habit to let him know that an exercise was finished, and he disengaged and wandered off. Whoops! I need to remember to use a different transition when I actually expect him to stay by me. Usually I pick him up or trot with him to a different area to start a different exercise. He was also more comfortable staying on his mat and chewing his bully stick when I had to move closer to the instructor to listen.

We warmed up with more circle work. I've been working specifically on accelerating during both circle work and obedience heeling. We moved on to running to a nose target. I baited the target a couple of times but for most reps it was empty and he still stopped on it as I kept running past. Success! I just need to watch out because I tend to turn my body toward him to check whether he's stopped, and I know that that's a huge cue to him. I now need to practice having him run to the nose target as I do increasingly more distracting things, such as front cross, run in a different direction, do jumping jacks, etc. We also practiced running to the target over a flat plank, and down the weighted side of a teeter that was lowered nearly to the ground.

We practiced running between jumps standards and coming to front if I was stopped, running toward a toy on the ground if I was moving forward, and running to me and continuing on toward a thrown toy if I was moving forward. We're a bit ahead of the rest of the class in this, although I do need to practice it more. Dragon was more confident in discriminating whether to run ahead or come to me compared to last time we practiced. I need to practice running ahead toward a thrown toy the most.

At the end we played the bang game with the teeter. It was only a couple of inches of the ground and it moved very slowly and made almost no noise when Tiny Dog jumped on it, haha. I was super proud that he was comfortable on it, though. Our months of work are really paying off! At the end of class I raised the end to about six inches and practiced having him hop on and ride it down, and it was the perfect level of difficulty -- he didn't jump on smoothly at first but after a handful of reps had no hesitation.

Another wonderful thing is that he tugged with me! After running to his food toy he would pick it up and tug with me for a few seconds, and then I would mark and reward the tugging with the food inside. It's working very well -- a few times he was super into the tugging, pulling backwards with his whole body, and didn't even let go when I clicked. I have my dog back again!

A realization

pet insurance update

Just got e-mails from Trupanion about the first four claims I've submitted to them, to get reimbursed for diagnostics and medications. (They don't reimburse for exam fees.) They are sending me $402.30. Since February I have paid them about $330, so buying pet insurance has saved me money. Of course, in a few months that won't be the case any longer. However if Dragon had needed surgery, or expensive medication (like the Cosopt) for the rest of his life, they would cover that also. The peace of mind is worth it for me.

expensive medication

I picked up another bottle of Cosopt, the glaucoma medication Dragon is on to keep the pressure in his left eye low. It was $45 for a teeny little bottle! I'm still waiting for Trupanion to process all of my claims going back to the date of his injury. There was a hold-up with obtaining records from the first vet he went to as a puppy, since those records are under a different dog and owner name.

Following up on play concerns

I brought up my concern about Dragon not wanting to play with my trainer friend Elissa. She reassured me not to worry about it, and not to bother trying to get him to play until he's clearly feeling better and initiating play on his own. Otherwise I might end up altering his play style weirdly or teaching him to be worried or suspicious of playtime. So, although I'll miss it, I'll put away the toys until he shows me that he wants to play, and just use food in training. He's normally a playful dog, so in the end I should be able to get his play drive back up again.

In the meantime we're making steady progress with his obedience training. I just received a teeny plastic dumbbell in the mail and I did a session of dumbbell = liver treats, woohoo!

Loss of enthusiasm

Dragon has almost completely lost interest in tugging since his eye injury three weeks ago. Even the rabbit fur tug only brings out half-hearted chasing and mouthing. (Before the injury, he went crazy for it and would chase it in circles and was putting noticeable wear on it.) Even his drive to chase a rolling ball has diminished. I am sad to lose the opportunity to play with him in this way. It was a fun way to bond and get some energy out, as well as a great reinforcer in training.

I've been bringing the rabbit tug out every few days when he pesters me for something to do, and putting a lot of energy into encouraging him to chase it and mouth it. I'm trying not to put pressure on him and stress over it, though. I'm telling myself that while switching to using just food as a reinforcer for a few months will impact his play drive for a while, he is a very playful dog and in the end I should be able to get all that tugging joy back. It won't affect him permanently. (I should say that I wasn't looking to play vigorous games of tug anyway, since we want to avoid jarring/shaking actions. Just any excitment over a gentle tug game...)

On the other hand, I'm happy that the prednisone is getting him to consistently eat all his meals, which was a struggle before. Silver lining.

Check-up with ophthalmologist, 2 weeks post-injury

Dragon's eye is on the road to recovery. The blood is slowly draining but it may take three months or even longer for it all to be re-absorbed. The pressure has come down to the same level as his good eye. He's going to continue taking the same four medications as before, but now he only needs each med twice a day, rather than having them spread out over five times a day. (Thank goodness! It was hard to keep up.)

I told the doctor that I was concerned that he is not interested in tugging or wrestling like usual. She theorized that it might be that his vision is affected and that makes him uncomfortable with it. She didn't think that he's in pain, which is a relief. He's also been sleeping more than usual, but I can't tell if that's because his body is recovering or simply because I've restricted his activities and he's adjusted to that.

He's still restricted from doing much jumping or practicing the teeter. Next week we're starting our group agility class, but the class is starting from the top and I assume will spend the first few weeks on handling and low jumps, so it's okay for us to continue the break from doing fast sequences and teeters and such.

Dragon was working me for treats while I talked to the doctor. One of his tricks is to back up and target a person with his back feet. Usually he just ends up sitting his butt onto a person's lap or putting one back foot up against their leg. Today he ended up doing a whole hand stand against the stomach/chest of a vet tech standing next to the exam table. That was a real conversation stopper.

pet insurance

Dragon is insured with Trupanion. I just got the last form I needed filled out by the vet who saw us last Monday night, and will mail out the forms and copies of his entire medical history this week. Unlike human health insurance companies who pay the doctor directly, pet health insurance companies require the owner to pay the vet clinic, and reimburse the owner later (or not). Also like with human insurance, pet insurance companies are known for doing their best to get out of having to pay. However I did my research before I chose Trupanion, and I've read their policy twice since his injury, and they should reimburse me for 90% of the cost of diagnostic tests and medications. They do not cover exam fees.

My total expenses for far: $585
I should be reimbursed: $263
My remaining costs (office exam fees and 10% of meds/diagnostics): $322

I enrolled in the program in February, and have paid them dues of $33.47 nine times. I've paid Trupanion a total of $301.23. That means that I've paid them only about $38 more than they will now pay me. Add to that the knowledge that they would have covered 90% of the cost of surgery should he have needed it, and I'd say that it's worth it so far.

Good news from the ophthalmologist!

No more cone!

I think Dragon wanted me to say that first, because it's most important to him.

After much poking, prodding, restraining, muzzling, shining of lights, and an ultrasound, the ophthalmologist was happy to report that there is no retinal detachment in Tiny Dog's eye. The ultrasound was because the blood still in his eye was blocking her from seeing a small section inside, and I wanted to make absolutely sure that there was no real damage. If there had been retinal detachment, he would have needed surgery. Or rather I should say that surgery would have been an option to restore the damage, and I would have done it without hesitation.

The doctor was concerned that the pressure in his eye was a bit higher than she would expect. She examined his good eye to see how his internal drainage ducts are structured. They're a bit tighter than usual -- not enough to cause a concern normally, but she prescribed a pressure-relieving glaucoma medication just in case. She also added prednisone to give his system a boost, and instructed me to give the anti-inflammatory a bit more often.

He has a check-up scheduled in two weeks. Until then he is to continue resting; no agility jumping and running! The current drug regimen:

9 AM: NeoPlyDex ointment (anti-inflammatory and antibiotic)
12 PM: Cosopt drop (glaucoma medication, which reduces pressure), Prednisone (steroid)
2 PM: NeoPlyDex
7 PM: NeoPlyDex, Atropine (pupil dilator, if needed, at least every day)
12 AM: NeoPlyDex, Cosopt, Prednisone

eye update

We went to the regular vet today for a check on the bleeding eyeball. Initially the doctor said that it looked like the blood was getting re-absorbed and the eye was on the mend. She instructed me to continue the antibiotic three times a day until the week was up, and decrease the atropine from every night to every other night. She took Dragon to the back to draw his blood, since he happens to be due for his DHP vaccine and I wanted to get a titer first. The light was different there and she got another look, and was concerned to see a slight "fuzziness." It might be nothing, or it might be a sign of a small amount of retinal detachment. She refered me to an ophthalmologist. We have an appointment there tomorrow morning. I am really worried about the possibility of permanent damage to his eyesight.

emergency vet

Tiny Dog and I have not had a good evening.

After my shift was done at the daycare, I got him from his room and took him to an outdoor yard to potty. On our way out, this happened:



He yelped but then shook it off and pottied. We went back indoors and had a great agility training session. He was doing jumps, tunnels, running, and playing tug like nothing was wrong. After about ten minutes I realized that the pupil of his left eye was reflecting red instead of black, it was impossibly huge, and it was surrounded by a light blue ring and then a red-tinged sclera. Off we went to the emergency vet.

They took him back immediately to examine him but then I had to wait an hour before I was able to see the vet and get any info. Two families who came in after me were seen by the vet before I was. I tried to console myself that that meant it wasn't too urgent. Indeed, ultimately the vet said that he should recover fine, though he needs another check-up with his regular vet on Wednesday. He has an antibiotic ointment to be applied three times a day for seven days, and another once-a-day ointment to dilate his pupil and relieve pain. And, of course, the dreaded cone. He was coping with the injury well until the cone was put on, and then his life-force was sucked away. He spent half an hour just standing completely still at my feet. I think he was falling asleep but unable to process the idea of lying down while wearing the cone. I'm breaking the rules and letting him sleep on my bed tonight.

jaw update, and different ways of training a retrieve

I don't think that Dragon's aversion to holding a plastic tube in his mouth is due to physical pain after all (or, if it is, it's only a small factor). I think that he was actually shutting down because he didn't understand the exercise. I came to this conclusion after watching him carefully during play and training and checking in multiple times with my awesome, intuitive boss. I thought back on previous times that Dragon had been reluctant or completely shut down during training. He's a "soft" dog -- if he feels overwhelmed by the environment or training set-up, or he's confused about what he should do, or if I try to push him to do something he's not comfortable with, he stops being operant and displays stress signals, or he leaves and finds something to chew on instead of training. I have to be quite careful to keep training sessions short, with lots of encouragement, and most importantly, have to raise my expectations/criteria in baby steps, and only when he has a clear understanding of his job.

The last part is what has been biting me in the butt sometimes. I think that I'm raising criteria only a tiny amount, and he should be able to succeed, but when he doesn't understand what's happening he shuts down even with a high rate of reinforcement. For example, I was trying to train him to hold onto a plastic tube by initially clicking/treating for taking hold of it, then for taking hold of it behind his canines and not farther forward or back in his mouth, and then for holding it just a fraction of a second longer. But the idea of "sit still while holding something in your mouth" is not currently in Dragon's repertoire -- he was sure that he was supposed to be doing something. He was confused and frustrated because he didn't understand why he was getting the click sometimes and not other times. The high rate of reinforcement was not enough to override it, and so he spit out the tube and left the training session.

At least, that's my analysis. I can't know what really went through his head. But based on what I know about him, and the insight of my boss (who has plenty of experience with soft, stressy dogs), it's my best guess.

Now, similar moments of confusion happen all the time when a dog is being shaped to perform a new behavior. It's important to minimize frustration and confusion by keeping sessions short and upbeat and of course raise criteria slowly. But beyond that, I think the problem was that this was just a concept that was hard for Dragon to grasp, just like some people are better able to understand spatial reasoning or language arts than mathematics.

My solution is to change the way I'm trying to teach Dragon this skill, and hopefully find a way that will make more sense to him. He already has a strong "bring to hand" behavior (in fact, I think the strong reinforcement history for moving and targeting when he takes something into his mouth was part of the problem in understanding the new criteria of "just hold it"). So now instead of holding my hand out to him as a clear target on his way to me with an object, I am sometimes keeping it up and then lowering it once he's closer. Sometimes I lower it more slowly than other times. My goal is to start lowering my hand more and more slowly until he is effectively standing still with the item in his mouth and waiting. Then I will start waiting to lower my hand at all until he has stopped in front of me and is waiting and holding.

If this doesn't work, another method I've read about is teaching a dog to place his lower jaw onto a person's palm, and teach them to grab a dumbbell/retrieve object, and then to combine the two behaviors. Dragon does not currently have a duraction contact behavior with his nose or mouth, so this method would involve more new skill sets for him, and that's why I'm not using it as my first choice. Down the line, of course, it would be nice to teach him a chin target.

Eventually, for a formal retrieve, I'll also need to teach him to sit in front while holding onto an object, but I'm not worrying about that yet.

Other aspects of retrieving that we have been working on:
- reaching underneath or into a small space to reach the retrieve object
- reaching up high to reach the object, especially pulling something down (this is quite difficult for Dragon because sudden falling motions scare him)
- pulling something out of a box or over a barrier (speaking of spatial reasoning, this is helping him to develop it!)
- retrieving larger, heavier, or awkwardly shaped objects
- retrieving objects by name (inspired by Dr. Irene Pepperberg and her work with Alex, I'm starting off by trying to teach him the names "ball" for his orange floaty ball and "sock" for his sock tug, next items will probably be "stick" and "hoof" for his pig hoof)

My eventual goal is to have both a formal retrieve for the obedience ring as well as a useful service dog-type retrieve of named objects. I can't explain why but retrieving is something that I really love training with the clicker, and all these variations on the behavior keep the training new and engaging for both of us.

Jaw update

This afternoon we had another private agility lesson with Moe. I'll go into the details of the lesson later, but I wanted to write down for myself what I saw in terms of Dragon's possible jaw pain. During the lesson he was eager to eat (ZiwiPeak, softened by chicken broth, and smeared with chicken fat from a soup I made last night), and we also tugged some with his tennis ball on a string. He was very enthusiastic about tugging. After we got home he was put into his crate while I went out for the evening. He did not have access to his pig hoof at all today, just a plastic chewie and an apple to play with/chew on.

When I returned home I decided to give him his dinner via a training session. We started off with working on holding a plastic tube. This is the same exercise that had prompted me to schedule a vet visit when he was reluctant to hold the tube. I saw more of the same this time. He initially licked at it and opened his mouth slightly at it, but when I increased the criteria to taking hold of the tube behind his canines, he started throwing stress signals. He lip-licked. He licked at the tube a lot. He stood up and didn't want to sit in front of me again to restart the exercise. The one time he did hold it, he set it down very gingerly after I clicked, which made me wonder whether the issue is not pain but just a fear of the tube falling and bouncing erratically. However after I ended that exercise and moved on to other things, he started to take the food less enthusiastically, until he stopped eating. He didn't leave the training session, but he would keep his mouth closed and turn slightly away from the food. I tried lightly stuffing a kong with the rest of his meal and he pawed at it but did not eat any. This really looks like a response to pain. Something that may be an important difference between breakfast and dinner is that this afternoon his food was room temperature (after sitting in the back of the car for the hour-long drive to San Jose) and in the evening I'd just pulled it out of the fridge and it was cold.

I'm going to switch from the ZiwiPeak to some pre-packaged raw patties and canned food. It'll probably be a struggle again to get him to eat enough every day, but it will help rest his jaw. I'll give it a week and then retry the plastic tube.

Back from vet check

We just returned from a trip to the vet, because I'd seen signs that Dragon might be having pain in his teeth or jaw. Dragon did not appreciate having his teeth examined but Dr. Johnson was very patient and gentle with him. She sat on the floor with him, gave him chicken, and used minimal restraint. She found some inflammation in his gumline around his front teeth, but nothing major. The plan of action now is:
- reduce the amount of time he spends chewing, to rest his jaw (he spends a LOT of time chewing on a pig hoof, so his jaw muscles might be sore)
- I bought a gel which I will apply to his gumline once a day, which should help quell the inflammation
- continue giving him chicken feet 1-2 times a week to keep his teeth clean
- monitor and note any changes

I'm glad that there's nothing really wrong, but on the other hand it would have been nice if we had a clearer reason for his odd behavior. Also I feel really bad that I'll have to limit his chewing, but I saw that one coming. On a side note, Dragon has gained a pound since his last check-up in spring, from 7.11 to 8.13! Some of that might just be regular daily fluctuation, but I'm glad that I've managed to fill him out some. I think that his ideal weight is 8 pounds or just slightly over. It's hard to get him to eat enough to keep his weight up.