Extreme Mutt Makeover: Results

Ok. Well my long 6 weeks with Harry and the whole Mutt Makeover experience is now over. I'm quite sad and although he got a good home I miss the fuzzy guy a lot. I taught him over 20 commands and tricks and he's a goofy, fun-loving dog.

We came in 6th overall, we were only 5 points off from making the finals, which were the top 3 dogs. The judges were much harder than I had anticipated and so I was frazzled with all of that. However, the weekend was fun. Harry just wants to say hi to people and dogs. He's just a love muffin. If I didn't have four dogs and a baby I know I would have made him a new family member!

We had 2 preliminaries of which the 2nd was broken down into 2 parts--obstacle course they designed along with a distraction and freestyle routine. The distraction scared me to death as I thought he'd panic as many of the dogs either were afraid or overly interested, and I didn't' blame them--it was a rooster! Yes. A live rooster in a cage. The 2nd part of this prelim was a 90-second freestyle routine where we could do whatever we wanted. Harry did some real goofy stuff here and didn't do it as planned but he was a definite crowd pleaser to say the least! It wasn't very practical to have these dogs doing this stuff with 100 people standing around and no fence to keep the folks out! Anyway here are the two parts of the preliminaries here. (The 1st preliminary was just obedience--leash work, sit, down, stay, come--and I didn't get that on video.)

I really want to tell you that after teaching so many tricks to Harry I want to pedal the tricks class to anyone who will do it! Tricks are a great way to not only entertain but keep your dog busy and mentally stimulated! Ask me about a tricks class and if we get enough interest we will put one together for a 3 or 4-week class!

Extreme Mutt Makeover: Final Week

Here we are . . . 6 days to go! We are working very hard this week on our routines and stuff but Harry is a goofy fellow. I haven't been able to get him out and working much in a distraction-filled environment. I am only hoping and praying for the best once he's out there in front of a crowd and in high distractions!

He's a great fuzzy guy. He does need someone with patience, time and willingness to meet his exercise and training needs. He is a very smart guy and has probably learned about 15 tricks along with basic commands: sit, down, stay, come, walk on leash, wait and leave it.

We hope to see everyone at the event and remember that Friday evening (September 18th) at 7pm are the 1st round of preliminaries and Saturday the 19th at 1pm are the 2nd round of preliminaries. All of those are free to the public. The finals round is at 7pm on Saturday, September 19th and will include the horses' performances and the dogs'. That will be the fun and exciting one but tickets need to be purchased for that. Tickets are $10/pp with the coupon in the picture (click the picture to get tickets). We hope to see you all there!

Have a great week!

Harry's Latest Skills.

Harry has several commands and tricks down now. He's a little rusty in some spots, and we are also working on weaning him off of treats because we can't have them at all in competition without getting the boot! So we still have a ways to go . . .

As you can see in the video he's very mouthy. He does this and it's so annoying to me and he does it worse to people when he meets them. This is what happens when you teach your puppy how to play with hands and do not teach them puppy biting is inappropriate at an early age.

He also seems to be confused with the "down" command (as in lie down). I've been working on it but not sure why he takes a couple of tries with that. I'm obviously giving him some mixed signals. I need to change something.

Now please ignore the beauty that I resonate in this lovely video. It has been one of those days! I'm not applying for Miss America anytime soon . . .

Extreme Mutt Makeover: Part V: A Harry Party.

Oye! It's half-way to the big showdown and I'm one nervous Nellie. Harry is doing well, very well at home, but we had a set back. I took him to my workshop on Saturday and he was a mess. He jumped and barked and yanked on the leash. He looked like a typical shelter dog who had no training at all!

I know he has really only had training in low-level distractions but he showed me the reality of what happens when you only train where the dog is comfortable. And folks, let this be a lesson. Dogs do great at home. I know this. And I know more than I should and then I go blank when it comes to this. I was more horrified with myself knowing that I knew I needed to work him in distractions and I hadn't. He just proved my point on Saturday. So now I'm hitting myself over the head!

We did head to the Euless Dog Park on Sunday with hubby and baby in tow and got about 30 minutes of some distraction work done. He did well with the treats now to just keep going until the big day and get him off of treats. No treats allowed at the competition just our love and praise!

So I'm going to offer a great deal for many of you! A free training lesson in distractions! I want to hold a "Harry Party" and have him out and in distractions working. If anyone is in, please let me know and I'll set it up. We need dogs that are already reliable to basic commands and could use the same help as Harry, the dreaded distractions! Email me if you want to join the party! Party details:

Harry Pooper Party
- Friday, September 4th
- 7:00 pm
- Craddock Park, Dallas
3300 Hawthorne Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75219

Bring your dog on a 6-foot leash with loads of yummy, yummy treats. We'll stay 30-60 minutes and see what we can do. It'll be fun. If anyone has any fun stuff to add to it (like agility jumps, tunnels or weaves) then bring those along! We will also do some fun tricks too!

Here is Harry at his best. He likes to zoom about at times in my yard! You can see that Amos (my Great Dane) isn't impressed or inclined to join in!

Microchips Work . . .

Here is a very good reason to microchip your dog . . . and as I type I realize what a hypocrite that makes me. I need to chip my dogs!! However they do wear identification at all times! Also remember I do love and recommend the Lucky Pet Tags and the 24PetWatch microchip system. There are often low-cost microchip clinics that offer microchipping for as low as $15/dog up to $20/dog. You can also have it done at any veterinarian's office as well as the SPCA.

Best Dog Trainer Ever.

This man is clearly an amazing dog trainer. I believe this may be in Germany, not sure but I know it's not in America. The video is 5 minutes but you have to see all of it to get all the true beauty of it! Enjoy!!