Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ssssssh Moose came to work with me today.

The Park

Moose and I visited the park this morning. He had a great time running and playing. Got to meet new people (lots of new people) and I can officially say that 1.5 hours on a bike will completely wear out an 18 month old Sheepdog. See photographic evidence below:


Please note the positioning of the ear. He's placed the ear on the remote control (I swear this is true) because he knows that if I get up and move to the chair, I'll take the remote with me. This way any movement of the remote will awaken him and invoke Insano Puppy TM.

Frolicking Moose Monsters

This is the next door neighbor's dog "Jackson". This guy loves to run and play. He's used to being around my dogs and trying to get them to play (they just won't). He was bowled over by the amount of energy that Moose displayed. Enjoy.


Oh and as a side note, I finally figured out the newer version of VideoDub so the videos won't be quite so dark and/or crappy looking. No accounting for talent behind the lens still but...

Moose version 1.1

He is a different dog. Completely changed. It's astonishing. I took Moose to work with me today (had a meeting first thing so I picked him up at the vet at lunch when I returned to the office). He hung out and mostly slept on the floor behind my chair or on the couch. He likes the couch because a. It's soft, b. It's by the window so he can look out, c. Previous works best when he's conscious, d. Which is rarely.

If dogs wore clothes, he'd have on a Hawaiian shirt, flip flops and be without pants. Do dogs wear pants? Nevermind.

I snapped a picture of him with my crappy camera phone of him doing a dismount from the couch. This move took probably twenty seconds to complete. He's a trip.

I'm downloading the videos of him playing with the neighbor's dog. It'll be up shortly.

"Working"

Thanks to 14 Karat you too can laugh your arse off!


This just cracked me up.

Doing great

Today was bath day. He spent the day at the vet and got all prettified. Very cute smiley boy today.

Saw this on Rachel Lucas' site today (or got around to reading my rss feeds anyway).



It's a Maltese puppy named Hope who was born without front legs. This'll tug the heartstrings.

Moose blogging resumes tomorrow. He had a "play date" with a neighboring doggie. Lots of fun.

Fetch!

The video speaks for itself.



I can't say anything. I'm still laughing too hard. I'm sorry.

*update* I predicted this.

Separation Anxiety Much?

Mooselet is clingy. Major clingy. He apparently has separation anxiety.

This is a big thing with deaf dogs I'm learning. They have to see you. Like all the time. If I walk into another room, Moose Monster has to come and find me. It got pretty bad. Like "I'm getting in the shower and there's a Moose in the bathroom FREAKING OUT" kinda bad! When I'd shut the bathroom door slidey thing he would scratch on it.

So I solicited advice from the OES Mailing list. And I got lots of good ideas to approach this problem.

Major improvements. I let him walk his goofy ass in the shower. No further encroachment was made. I've found that standing by the door when he goes outside helps. He can see me through the glass and he goes about his business. He still prefers me to go out with him but at least we're making some progress.

Oh Hai!

Rachel Lucas and John Hopkins were nice enough to link to dear sweet Moosafus Maximus Minimus' humble little blog. Welcome all the new visitors! Mini Moose says "Oh Hai!". And here is a giant Moose Face for you!


KTHX

Moose Video

From HIS perspective.



There is no sound during this video because I want you to experience what he experiences. Some people think that a lack of hearing is a terrible impediment. Nothing could be further from the truth for this guy. He's just so very happy. A touch for him is a symphony.

Concentration

I'm so lucky to know this sweet little dog. Everything that he does is cuter and sweeter than the one before. We got him chew bones so he could work off some of that crazy puppy energy...

He's a big fan.

The June 19th Adventure (Part two)

Part deux of the June 19 adventure finds us back at home after narrowly avoiding death by feline. Here's an artists rendition of the cat shortly after meeting Mini Moose.

So, the rest of the evening was uneventful, played with him a bit and worked on our behavior some (I find he's more willing after a good long walk). It was getting late so I decided to give it a try with him in the bed. In a short time, we achieved a snuggle factor of 9.8.

Jen arrived shortly afterward and, being the heartless soul that she is, kicked him out of bed. Banished, without fanfare to the garage. He's been pretty good but I figured for the peace of the house I'd leave him out there for the evening with a chew bone and the big soft fluffy dog bed.

Next morning I wake up and Jen isn't there. Strange. I go downstairs after a bit and see her in the kitchen cleaning up after feeding the dogs. Doubly strange, she pretty much never gets up in the morning. And there's Mr. Moose just wiggly as ever underfoot. Says she, "I heard something and came downstairs. Guess who was outside the front door scratching like crazy?"

screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech

What? How in the world could he have gotten outside??? I knew that the pen wouldn't hold him (he broke out of that in no time) but he pulled a Buck somehow. Except that the window was CLOSED! You're thinking, yeah right it was closed. But it was. Because I was freaked about him getting out I came back downstairs after I put him up and physically closed it. And he was there when I closed it.

The only thing I can think is that maybe the latch didn't close properly. It's either that or Mini Moose has thumbs. The screen is just gone. No idea where it is. I think my Houdini must have seen me close the window and worked it open. No telling how long that took. I'm just glad he didn't run off. That would SUCK! I guess maybe he likes it here. Not to hard to figure out why knowing the little that I do about where he came from.

So we've been doing limited experimentation with him off leash. Don't worry, I'm going to be very very careful. I live in a small subdivision at the end with almost no traffic. There are six houses past mine. Five of the six have dogs. He's still leashed 90% of the time but it might not be a bad idea to get him used to really watching me. And I think I'm going to try to build a vibrating collar. I know I could get one inexpensively but it might be fun to make him one. There's this certain RC helicopter that may never fly again you see...

Sweet Face

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul.

The soul likes it when you rub it under it's snout.

The June 19 Adventure (Part One)

So last night I took The Majestic Mööse (His Majesty the Moosafus Minimus) on a long bedtime walk. I eschewed biking because my neck and back feels sort of like a cross between [insert something bad] and [insert something worse]. Walking was much better if you know what I'm saying.

And so we walked around the neighborhood, down the street and into another neighborhood (probably two or three miles total) and on the way back we met... da dum DAAAAAAAAA

A CAT!!!

So I figured whatever. He's on a leash and if the cat turns into Satan on us I can always yank him back to safety. So we approached. and here's what happened:

1. The cat noticed him.
2. The cat sank to the ground in a pose reminiscent of a soldier in a foxhole.
3. The cat apparently had hidden under it's fur a fully fueled Boeing 747, three diesel dump trucks, Megadeth (the band) and an entire concert stadium of hopped up Megadeth fans. I say this because they all suddenly turned on.
4. The cat then turned into Satan.

And Moosafus Minimus the Majestic just wanted to play...

He's not too bright occasionally. Because I'm pretty sure that even being deaf he could hear the sounds that cat was making. I didn't sleep well and probably won't for a week from the nightmares.

Tomorrow, the rest of last night's saga. You'll freak. I did.

But here's my little Mini Moose learning to sit!


I realize that I'm not doing a very good job of signing but 1. I have only one hand and the ASL sit command takes two and 2. as long as I'm consistent he doesn't care. And he's LEARNING! He's being a very sweet, smart and good boy. When he's not being bad.

Of spills and thrills

Mini Moose and I have been spending a lot of time together. He's not quite ready to have the run of the house but he's getting pretty close. Exercising a dog is, I think, an important part of both bonding with a dog and relieving some of the natural stress that a predator like a dog generates. So I've been a big proponent, when applicable, of using a bike to help get a dog really good and worn out. And it's worked really really well generally speaking.

So yesterday late I decided to give it a try with Mini Moose. And he did pretty well. Stayed right next to me the whole time and kept up. It was amazing to me that he caught on so well. I got a good bike ride in and he got worn out!

And this morning I got up early and decided to repeat the successful bike ride. Unfortunately I didn't get his buy in...

We've been riding for about two minutes and we're on our way down a fairly large hill. Fiona got the Mooselet a harness because she was worried about the cut and since he looks really cute in it, I left it on him. Usually when I'm running a dog on the bike and they're wearing a collar I have a very light grip on the retractable leash. You know, in case of an unexpected telephone pole or mailbox segue. But since this is a harness and he weighs 45lbs I held on like normal.

Guys are strange creatures I've learned. When a guy sees something dropping, we try to catch it. It doesn't matter if it's a knife or a lump of uranium, if we can catch it, we're gonna. Same with something getting pulled out of a guy's hands. We feel a jerk, we clamp down.

I'm traveling down the hill at a fairly good clip and Mini Moose decides to sniff something. Partially behind a mailbox. Mini Moose is stronger than he looks. I felt the leash jerk and grabbed hold. Moose flattened and the leash wrapped partially around the mailbox.

I ate it.

I'm lying there thinking, "Thank God I had the presence of mind to fall in the grass instead of on the concrete when up comes Mr. Moose with this happy grin and the leash dragging behind and I just had to laugh.

Wrenched my neck pretty bad so I'm not 100%.

What a difference a day makes

Mini Moose has been going for a walk in the morning and a walk in the evening. He was daysat today by my vet (for half a day) and then came to the office. He had a blast. We were pretty miserable. I almost duct taped him to a ceiling fan. Talk about nervous energy... Chew bones to the rescue though. He was pretty happy as long as that bone lasted.

When we returned home I gave him a big bone that I got him. He hasn't been very interested in this chew bone until now. But NOW..., check it out!



He's doing amazingly well.

Sleepy Sheepy

Mini Moose got a haircut today. You'll be pleased to know that it has not affected his ability to sleep soundly...

Before


After

The good, the cute and the woofy

The Good:
Walking on the leash. He's tremendous! No pulling, no bad behavior at all. I can NOT believe it. Yesterday when I took him on his first walk it was like trying to walk 110 cats hopped up on meth and Redbull.

The Cute:
Okay this is a little out of chronological order. I took him for a fairly long walk and he just crashed when we got back. He's beyond exhausted. Video follows (sorry so dark):



The Woofy:
He discovered the TV today. He walked over, took one look and started barking. I was sitting on the couch in convulsive laughter because he was barking his warning bark at the TV and every couple of seconds he would get startled as a new scene would come on. Then he'd bark again. Too funny. I tried to get some video footage but I don't know if it came out. Regardless it was incredibly cute.

What have YOU learned about deaf dogs today?

I learned that to a deaf dog, barking in the car is more than an art form. It's a necessity. I'm kinda surprised that you don't have more stories of people driving off cliffs due to a barking deaf dog in the back seat. Because let me tell you I was tempted.

Took Mini Moose to the vet today. My vet is fantastic. They're right around the corner from my office and I've worked with them for years now. Absolutely great folks. Top notch. And here's the really good news:

Mini Moose is heartworm negative!

This was a huge fear as heartworm positive dogs drastically increase the cost and length of fostering (Zoe wants him OUT of her house!). So really good news there. Full vet workup today and tomorrow he's going to have "his pockets picked" in the immortal words of Grannie Annie.

Mini Moose!

He's just a tiny little baby. Marie mentioned Mini Moose and that's going to stick I think. This dog may be actually made of sugar and spice and love and bunnies and rainbows. He is so sweet!



Tomorrow is bath day! And grooming! And getting that cut looked at...

Ze Moose! He eez a loose!

Moose touchdown at about 7.15pm tonight!

Moose, is actually a pretty scrawny fella. Mouse might be a more apt descriptor.

If the energy of Ze Moose could be harnessed, America would be free of dependence on foreign oil. He bounces. Every-freaking-where!

We took pictures!





This is a cut that sweet little Moosie suffered at the hands of his previous owner. She was trying to cut out the mats. It's pretty bad. Moose will be by the vet first thing in the morning.

He's just as sweet as you can imagine.

Welcome Moose

Hey, welcome to the Deaf Moose Dog Blog. I'm your host, Stew Magoo (names have been changed to protect the guilty) and I'll be guiding you through your journey with Mr. Moose, the deaf Sheepdog.

I don't have a photo of Moose yet so I'm going to come up with an artists conception. Hold on.


















Deafness in dogs is fairly prevalent and I've always wanted to work with a deaf dog. It looks like I have a challenge too. This dog, in addition to being deaf, is not housebroken, may have tremendous health issues (we just don't know) and has never been inside. Additionally this dog has never met Zoe, who is sweet to me and other humans, but evil embodied when it comes to other dogs.

I've been reading like crazy the DDEAF Training Tips at deafdogs.org in an attempt to get up to speed on how to handle this. I feel pretty comfortable that I'll be able to cope and hopefully we'll have some good progress to report soon.

I hope (fervently) that Moose looks better than my drawing too. He'll be arriving here in just a couple of hours. Subscribe to the rss feed for updates. I plan on updating at least daily.