We talked with Peg, whose dogs Finny the golden and Sammy the terrier mix are day campers with us!
How old were your dogs when you got them?
Finnegan was 9 or 10 weeks. Sammy, we rescued so we don't know--he was a dixie dog, he was brought up from wandering the streets of Memphis. It was probably only for a few hours...but we like to imagine that he was wandering for months and survived and needed us!
Sammy!
What is a sweet or silly thing your dog(s) have done?
Pretty much every day Finny does something ridiculous... Sammy has this little howl, so when he's got to go to bed, he will go upstairs himself and then we have to bring him back down to go to the bathroom. But when we bring him down, if I'm talking to Deb, he'll howl, and then if we tell him to be quiet he'll make this 'harumph!' noise. He has to have the last word!
What is your favorite thing about day camp?
Well...I came off of owning a Marley-esque dog, a dog who had severe separation anxiety, which caused me to have separation anxiety. And it went on for a few years; I mean I did everything--training, all of it. He died in January 2012.
Now I loved him beyond reason, but what I realized I never did with him was socialize him. Which I think caused a lot of the issues. And what I vowed to do, when I got my next dog, was to expose him to everything. There would be no excuses.
I work from home, so you would think "thats perfect, your dogs can be there with you" but it actually isn't, because they get nothing when I'm working.
Finny snuggles with puppy Timber
With day camp, they are able to get interaction--because of this, they are GREAT with other dogs. Greeting other dogs? No issues. They are very outgoing and all of that. So I do love the fatigue--although I wish they were even more fatigued, they are still a little active at night!--but it’s the socialization. Giving them structure, giving them a place to go thats different from home but doesn't scare them; they are so excited to get here. Thats what i think is the most important thing--I like the exhaustion, but the reason i do it is for socialization.
And know i just think they’ve learned great skills of being in a crate which is a god-send; they have no crate issues. They know the routine now. And also i think you guys do little obedience work that reinforces things, so its a win win.
What would you say are your dogs’ favorite thing about camp?
I think its you guys honestly! I think they really do enjoy you guys.
Sammy always tries to jump into my lap even when I’m not sitting down!
He needs a hug! Its funny though, he’s not attached to us at home. He goes into another room sits in the chair and looks out the front window, couldn’t care less. But every once in a while he’ll come around and jump in your lap and say hi, and then we’re good.
Its the same thing with the two dogs--separate they are easy, but Sammy gets visibly sad when Finny isn’t there. He won’t eat, he won’t go outside. But when Finny comes through the door--he’s on him! Grrrr! And I think, there must be a space in between morosity and fiercety that is just “hi, hey, how you doing?”
Sammy and buddy Sophie
Like human siblings--hate you when you’re here, can’t stand when you’re gone.
Exactly! But yeah, they love each other. And with Ashlee’s help we’re getting to a point where they can be in the same room chewing on toys without wrestling.
Right, you did an in-home lesson with Ashlee recently? That went well?
Great! She came and we told her the specific issues and she had suggestions for all of them. And you know, we’ve incorporated almost all of them. One of the most important was if they get to be too much, put them in a crate! Because with Sammy, if he gets to a ‘ten’ level getting him down to nine takes forever, but if he never gets there, if he just gets to five then we can get him back down to ‘three’ really easy by just putting him in the crate. When we do that they fall asleep, then they come out, have a stretch, and thats that! Yes, it went really well and we’ve both seen a huge improvement.
