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On July 16, 2018 at 3:32 PM Stacy Paich
Hi Jackie,
I’m sorry its taken me a few days to get back to you. Here are some notes about my observations during my first four lessons with Judah.
Judah responds very well to training. He is eager to learn and seems to love the attention that goes along with it. So far, we’ve worked on the following behaviors;
· General impulse control exercises – waiting for calm behavior before entering/exiting doorways, before throwing a toy, before giving a treat, before exiting the crate, etc. The overall goal with this is to show Judah that he has some control to access of the things he wants through calm behavior.
o In training sessions Judah has shown progress in these exercises. Jenny and Howard have also reported progress, especially settling before exiting the crate and settling before entering/exiting doorways.
o This area will improve with consistency.
· “Leave-it” – practiced as a game with treats and toys
o We’ve practiced this exercise in three lessons. Jenny and Howard have practiced it with treats but have found in challenging to vary the scenarios in order to better generalize the behavior to everyday situations.
· “Stay” – practiced in different scenarios
o Judah picked up “stay” right away. If Jenny and Howard practice while increasing the duration, distance, and distractions this will become much more reliable.
· Door manners: staying in one place while door is opened, guest enters, and waits to be greeted
o Judah picked this up right away in our lessons. He was very quick to desensitize to the sound of the door bell, knocking on the door, and all of the process associated with opening the door and greeting a guest.
o Jenny and Howard are going to work on this behavior with the dog walker and dog sitter they have hired for Judah. Although I would anticipate him being very impulsive with new guests, with practice this behavior will also become much more reliable.
· Loose-leash walking, leash handling skills, and u-turns.
o Judah responds better than most dogs I work with to a kissy-sound and change of direction. He reacts to people and other dogs when they are too close for his comfort but he is easily redirected and very willing to change direction. He does not vigilantly look for triggers in his environment like some dogs but he is quick to react when surprised by them. With time and good leash handling skills I believe his leash reactivity will dramatically improve.
o Howard reported that the u-turns we reviewed were very helpful in redirecting Judah to situations he was about to react to.
· “Come”
o Judah’s intial response to “come” was great. I explained the importance of making “come’ fun for Judah. That calling him only when something fun is going to end for him will result in a poisoned recall cue.
o This area needs more practice as Jenny has reported that he does not always come to her.
· Muzzle acclimation: Jenny bought a muzzle and has started the process of making wearing it a positive experience for Judah. The first week she let him eat treats out of the muzzle. This week she was instructed to continue to give Judah treats in the muzzle while she initiates the first steps toward putting the straps around his head.Although many of these new behaviors were intended to work toward a slow introduction of Judah to Jenny and Howard’s cats the actual introductions have not begun. Judah shows a great deal of focus toward the stairs that lead rooms where the cats are staying. Since the incident when he chased the cats Jenny has been extremely anxious about that introduction. She has purchased a device that will deliver a shock if Judah crosses the threshold to the stairs. I advised against such a device and was concerned when it was installed with no training to teach him to leave the area when he hears the initial beep. At our last visit I expressed my concerns again about the device and the lack of appropriate training. Based on Jenny’s anxiety and fear of the introduction I don’t know that shared space between Judah and the cats will ever be advisable. I’ve not been able, with safeguards, to witness Judah’s reaction to the cats.
Judah seems to love training. He’s smart and picks up on new skills very quickly. He is still quite impulsive, however. During times when I’m trying to relay information to Jenny and Howard he’s likely to jump on one of us or search table surfaces for attention and treats. Extinguishing those behaviors is a matter of management and not allowing them to be rewarding for Judah while continuing to make behaviors that show impulse control the ones that gain the attention he desires.
Like any new skill, it requires practice in multiple settings for the behavior to become generalized. Some weeks Jenny has admitted to being overwhelmed by Judah’s adolescent antics and that she didn’t have a lot of time to work on the new behaviors. This is pretty consistent with other clients. Jenny and Howard both have a great deal of patience during our lessons and good instincts. Hopefully, they will find the time to practice the new behaviors regularly. I think Judah shows great promise and could benefit greatly from the consistency.
Please let me know if you need any additional information.
Kind regards,
Stacy07/14/18: Sue Taylor has tried several times to reach this woman with no response.
Move to Any Job since she volunteered.
07/16/18: JMC interviewed Brenda Madden:
Notes –
When asked about their health (they both are 75), She has recovered from stage 4 breast cancer in the last year. She gets around and does most anything she wants to do. Husband still working. Still active walking.
When asked about the baby their son and DIL are adopting: She is 9 months old. When she comes over, they put their rat terrier and their cat in another room to keep them away from the baby. They would do the same with an Airedale.
They have a small fenced area for the dog to go outside some, but would consider fencing in a larger area. Their dog would never stay outside while they are away from home. Their last dog, a lab, was always inside with them.
When asked about them wanting an Airedale to ride in the truck: Brenda said Britt loved to have the Lab ride with him in the passenger seat – NOT in the bed of the pick up. Of course, the Airedale will want to drive, she said. !
The sun porch is glassed in, part of the house. All of the animals have loved being in that room, but they have free reign of the house.
I talked to Brenda about an Airedale’s prey drive and their little feisty rat terrier and cat. She said all their animals had gotten along and an Airedale would have to be safe with them. They were here first. Good answer.We talked about the dogs they had lost to “a car accident,” “poisoning,” and “wandered off.” The poodle was HBC right after they moved to Cedartown and it didn’t really know the area. Their Airedale was poisoned by the neighbor. They let him roam. And the pit bull wandered off and never returned. They think someone picked him up. I told her all these things concerned me because it meant the dogs were not kept at home and properly protected. She understood and that’s why they have the fenced area now.
I started off thinking these people would not survive the interview. Brenda is very straightforward and I got no sense at all that she was being untruthful. She’s a former high school English teacher. He still works as a CPA. I like them.
Just need to find a home visit.
———- Original Message ———-
From: Jackie Cash
To: drankin577@hotmail.com
Cc: Barbara Yager
Date: July 16, 2018 at 11:42 AM
Subject: Airedale RescueHello, Darleen & Tim: First, please accept my apology for not contacting you sooner in the more than one month since your application came to us. This is the reason I haven’t:
2 male toy poodles – 12 pounds each- 2 years old neutered
1 female chiweenie- 12 pounds – 4 years old spayed
3 cats neutered 9 to 12 years oldActually, that’s about 6 reasons. There are certainly Airedales that can live successfully with small dogs and even cats, but we’ve not had any at all in the time that we’ve had your application. You answered that this would not be your first Airedale; however, in describing your previous pets, you don’t mention an Airedale.
That you are home most of the day and that you have a lot of acreage where you could walk your Airedale are both positives for your application. But your answer that your Airedale would stay in the fenced yard when you are away from home is a negative, as we require that the Airedale never be left unattended outside when no one is home.
You mentioned Judah, but he was officially been adopted this past weekend. He would not have worked at all. He has attacked other dogs his own size, so we would not have placed him with a small dog.
We can certainly schedule a time to talk and go over all of these points. It’s possible that we might get an Airedale into rescue who has a history of living with cats and/or small dogs. Let me know a good time to talk.
Thank you for considering a rescued Airedale and thank you for your patience.
Jackie Cash | 901-438-5782
07/16/18: Sue Taylor interviewed Nancy Chalmers. Her comments:
Hi JackieI just got off the phone with Nancy Chalmers and she lives around the Charlotte NC area. Is there someone close that could do a home visit? I did the vet check which is ok and they are very Airedale experienced. They have a 13 yr old WFT and a 3 yr old Lab. They are looking for a female and I was thinking maybe a place for Lilly? Anyway let me know who could do a home visit? Sorry I wish I could help with that website so I wouldn’t have to bother you so much.
Thanks
Sue07/12/18: JMC rec’d email from Nina Bruhns saying she would like to volunteer to transport Airedales: “I enjoy driving long distances and would be happy to either pick up or drop off.
843-696-0222
nbruhns@aol.com07/12/18: Maria will home visit Jim & Gibby Lawson!
Hi Jackie,
Yes, I am willing to do a home visit. Southport is right up the road from me too!
Maria
910-547-6261Sent from my iPad
Hi Jackie,
Ok, I have set up an appointment with Jim and Gibby for Monday, July 23rd at 1:30 p.m. He wasn’t going to be available next week as he was going to be in Charlotte working with his daughter to be able to take over the business.
Maria07/11/18: Playing catch up here. Lilly has been back with Cindy Green for about 2 weeks now. Here’s her latest update on her:
She is a great dog that can easily become a difficult dog. She is a very interesting combination of anxious dog , strong minded and inclined to be head of the pack. She is extremely obedient and responsive to all her training yet I am seeing as she settles in how easily she will go to guarding her person or home if permitted. You have to be very clear this is not her job. Much of this requires consistent controlling of all resource such food , toys, bedding even space in front of you on and off leash. Great companion for the right people.
Dinah is a big scaredy cat. Got her out of the car and wouldn’t go in the garage or house. Took 20 min of trying to figure out if they could lead her into the home with treats. In meantime, she slipped out of the harness and he screamed and she stopped. Very scared. Went into the great room and stayed right up against the couch. Drank the water. Ate a bit. No Milkbones. Sunday morning and won’t go near the garage. Took her out the back porch and one set of stairs 6 steps, she went out in the yard about 30 yards. She went back up and inside. Back out on the deck in the afternoon spent a couple of hours. She didn’t eat or drink and this morning. She sleeps in the great room, another bed in the bedroom. Elevated feeding station and she’ll drink water but not eat. This morning she got up and explored the foyer and looked into the rooms, but will not go to the bedroom or the garage. Scared of noises. Stretched and walked around and explored a bit, followed him. Harness on and she started wagging.
