Tag Archives: teddy

Different as night and day

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torqueandtedTorque, at 10 months old, is bigger than Teddy now. They weigh about the same, but Torque’s a little bit taller, a little bit longer, and not as wide – yet.

And Torque’s big-boy personality is settling in. He’s a happy, goofy, friendly, silly, clownish French Bulldog – pretty much all the descriptions of the breed that you read. He loves people and dogs, loves going places and doing “stuff.” He gets a little bit over-enthusiastic, but he listens well and calms down beautifully.

Torque loves toys and playing fetch. He loves chewing on his chewie toys, but he can also put them aside, relax and take a nap – even on the days he’s with me here at the shop.

And his easy-going personality could not be more different from Teddy.

Teddy is intense. He worries. He has no interest in toys. He occasionally chews on something – and when he does, it’s not released until destroyed, or taken away.teddys_toy1

How we train our dogs changes based on what works for each one. We have to adapt our methods for the dog we’re working with. Torque thinks a toy and a game of tug is marvelous. Teddy think food is the only payment worth working for.

The one exception to Teddy’s “don’t care” attitude about toys is plastic of a very particular texture. He loves the bottles that my contact lens solution comes in. I don’t even remember how I discovered this weird little factoid. But some days it’s the only toy he’ll play with. We’re dog trainers – we go with whatever works.

Shoot the dogs

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shooting_pictures

Teddy helping Hope with a product photo shoot.

Here at the shop we like to use our own pictures for all of our products – that way we know how things fit, know what they look and feel like, etc. We’ve even been known to taste the dog treats ourselves – just so we know.

Our setup isn’t very fancy. As a matter of fact, it’s pretty primitive. We finally did get some lights to use while we’re shooting, although we prefer natural daylight, it’s not always possible, especially on gloomy days.

And of course we use our own dogs for models. Teddy’s a pro – he’s been at it since he was a little baby boy. Booker’s getting pretty darn good at it, too. Tango and Torque? Problematic. Taking pictures of black dogs is never easy and, despite years of practice, we still have some difficulties.

teddy_peekingOne thing we’ve learned is to shoot lots and lots and lots of pictures. With flash, without flash, in just about every mode we can think of. And still we may, or may not, come up with a picture that shows the product and the puppy properly.

So if you see lots of Booker and Teddy on our site – you’ll know why. It’s not that they’re the favorite sons – it’s that their coloring allows us to get good pictures!

Teddy climbs

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Since even before I got Teddy, I knew I’d want to do “stuff” with him – obedience, rally, and agility. And so, from day one, I got him used to going different places, seeing different things, walking on different surfaces, and, heaven help me, climbing on stuff.

Which he doted_watching_zukeses. If it’s not moving, Teddy’s on top of it. He gets on boxes, ottomans, chairs, storage bins. If there’s a further “up” to get – he goes there. Which is why we’ve found Teddy on the kitchen counter (chair to table to counter). And it’s really, really difficult to yell at your dog when you’re laughing.

A couple of years ago his habit proved especially challenging at the pet supplies trade show. If there was a bed, he climbed in it. If there was a cat tree, he climbed on it. And at the FitPaws booth, where they have all kinds of inflatable fitness and rehab items for animals, he was all over everything. And he wasn’t going to move until he got a treat for being a good boy. It turned out fine – the people in the booth were so impressed they wound up taking his picture.

Here at the shop one of Teddy’s favorite spots to “help” is the treat bin under the packing table. While we’re getting orders ready to ship, he climbs onto the bin to be close. And to make sure none of the treats escape.

 

Getting my stick-in-the-mud to play

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You know the old adage about the cobbler’s children having no shoes? Well, our case isn’t quiteTeddy in agility as bad as that – our dogs have all the “stuff” they need. But despite having a wealth of toys to choose among – Teddy doesn’t play with toys. He just doesn’t. Never has.

For most dogs, it probably wouldn’t be an issue. But as a firm believer that “work is play” and “play is work” in obedience/rally/agility training – it’s a source of frustration for me. Teddy would rather lie down and chew on a bone than join in the games of fetch/tug/wrestle with me and the other dogs. He’ll calmly watch a ball roll by and pretend it doesn’t exist.

The benefits of play/training are many – it helps build the bond with your dog, it helps him get focused on you, it heightens his energy level, it teaches him to think even while excited. But despite all the toys I’ve tried in the last five years (Teddy’s whole life), the only thing he really adores is food. Cheese, to be specific. Which he can’t eat too much of, because it upsets his stomach. It’s never easy.

So I’ve gotten creative in getting Teddy “hyped up” for training. I stick a quarter of a stick of string cheese in a sock and tie a knot in it. I’ve tried all the dog toys with pouches, and his French Bulldog (emphasis on the bulldog) jaw mows through all of them in minutes. So I buy a huge pack of cheap men’s work socks and go through about three of them per one hour class.

It’s not the first time I’ve had to get creative getting my dog to tug with me. My first Frenchie, Dax, was also a non-tugger at first. Her major turn-ons included vegetables, so I was the weird one in agility class toting the wilted celery stalks – the only thing I could get her to tug on, at first. Over time we were able to switch to actual, real tug toys and Dax became a champion tugger. But our instructor still tells our story. Our little piece of agility class immortality.