What Our "Facility" Looks Like
What Our “Facility” Looks Like
Because of the Coronavirus, we are not allowing Meet and Greet interviews, which means that new clients will not have the opportunity to see where their pups will be staying–in person. We also don’t know when we’ll be able to offer Meet and Greets again. Therefore, we created a video for you so you can see our home and where the pups stay.
For more videos and pictures, check out our Facebook page where we post often.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask. We would be more than happy to help you!
Having Your Dog as Your Gym Partner
With California being currently in a “shelter in place” status, a lot of people are concerned about what to do with their dogs and how they’re going to stay in shape since their gyms are closed. Well, we have you covered. In this video, Jessie shows you just a few sample moves of how you can work out effectively WITH your dog (Clem often is watching her when she is performing workouts without him but he REALLY loves it when she lets him join in).
Looking on the positive side of life, look at this time as a great OPPORTUNITY to connect even deeper with your dog! You can teach him/her new skills, incorporate him/her in your workouts (not just walks or running) and really take advantage of all of that time you have been wanting just to hang out at home.
Please subscribe and follow us on YouTube as we’ll be working to get more videos up for you—addressing questions people are asking us about how they can live better with their dogs.
Stay safe and well, Folks!
Dog Training Exercises
We know how much everyone loves the videos so we are posting a few off-leash dog training videos that were taken during our training exercises yesterday.
In these videos, you will see the dogs react to the commands given, but because the video was taken in first-person format, you will not be able to see Jessie herself in the background issuing the commands.
These videos are showing Felix, the Golden, and Bear, the Lab, in a training session not only working on their recall (come when called) but responding to directional changes by the use of a verbal command, as well as, a hand signal. They did excellent!
One thing to note: Before we started the off-leash training, the pups had already had a 45-minute leashed walk plus a vigorous 30-minute session of Fetch just to remove a great deal of energy BEFORE the off-leash training session started. These two are very energetic guys (not the highest of energies on the ‘energy scale’ but definitely high).
Finally, Felix in the final video is used as a doggie mentor for Bear. Bear is still a pup and has a ways to go in training (he’s on his way to becoming a Search and Rescue guy). Felix is older and much more responsive so he aids Bear in learning the commands much faster than if Bear was in training by himself.
[pullquote_right]Dogs are the best teachers for training other dogs! [/pullquote_right]
Funny Cat Video!
Smooch gave us the laugh for the day; the day that we were in the right place and the right time catching this on video!
KYPSAH’s March Edition of Paw Prints Points Newsletter
Welcome to the March edition of our Paw Prints Points newsletter! Can you believe we’re into March now?! Jeez =/
Let us march into this month’s newsletter content where we’re a hopin’ that ye Lords and Ladies enjoy this month’s read (trying to speak like a leprechaun…not sure it’s working though).
FUNNY FELINES
During February, the month of love and courting, our merry band of felines was quite the joyous bunch to behold! Most of their hilarious actions were caught on videos that we took for their owners; however, one kitty made her way into the world of still-shots that we turned into a video for you. Therefore, we bring you Miss Positively Peachy Peaches in her online debut of “Cats Rule”.
HOW-TO VIDEO SECTION
We have posted videos on our website, as often as possible, on how we work with the animals that we care for. Here are just a couple more videos to add to the mix. One video is a demonstration of how a fearful dog can feel secure during a dog walk, and the other is a technique that deals with how to bond with kittens.
Dog Walking: Since we handle a lot of questions centered around fearful dogs and how to walk them, another short video was created to show you that just because a dog has fear, doesn’t mean it’s a bad dog or a dog that can’t feel secure on a walk. There are several tools (collars, harnesses and the like) that you can use to walk a dog effectively but no matter what tool you use, it’s the YOU variable that is most important and often overlooked. It’s how you project yourself as the Pack Leader that matters most.
Bonding with Kittens: When fostering or even pet sitting a litter of kittens, one way that we’ve found worked pretty well for our bonding with them was to simply take a small jar of Gerber (they really liked Chicken and Chicky Gravy) baby food and allow them to lick it off of our fingers. (This technique works really well for very shy kitties as well.)
The first few times you do this, as they’re licking the baby food off of your finger, don’t try and pet them. Just let them be. It can be hard to resist because kittens are so cute but we’ve found that if we allow them to come around on their own, the bond created will be a much stronger one. Again, this is just our personal experience.
[Video 1 of Kitten Bonding]
[Video 2 of Kitten Bonding]
HOW ARE WE DOING?
Always looking to make sure that we’re offering our friends the best service possible, we would like to know how we’re doing from the services that we offer to the way that we supply pet updates. If you get the opportunity to do so, please let us know how we’re doing. We would really appreciate it!
REACHING OUT AND HELPING OTHERS
The Riggs have been involved as active volunteers for Never Cry Wolf Rescue & Adoptions in their efforts to educate the public on true wolf behavior, dispelling the myths and legends that society is gravitating to and construing as fact instead of what it is–fiction.
Jessie frequently posts information about Never Cry’s efforts on KYPSAH’s site, as well as, information concerning the wolves affected by man’s laws, which are, subsequently, laws that are promoting these animals’ eventual and unwarranted demise.
Please feel free to follow The Riggs’ undertakings with Never Cry as they not only work to shed light on these magnificent animals but also work to fight legislation that is always trying to surface; legislation that would also affect many other dog breeds such as German Shepherds, Malamutes, Huskies and so many more who have lost their lives–and will continue to possibly lose their lives–because of being mislabeled as a “wolf” or “wolf-hybrid”. You can also follow Never Cry’s efforts directly from their website and Facebook pages.
“Wa-Wa Power”
Skating sessions works on all breeds even the little guys who really love to go fast! In the video, Jordie is long-boarding with Pecos Bill, a little Chihuahua who loves to run and pull her on the long-board. Two trips around the block, and he is tuckered out!
Since Pecos has a strong personality, we use this personality trait of his to fuel his exercise by having Jessie skate with Lanai and Roscoe just in front of him. Positioning the dogs in such a way, encourages Pecos to run especially since he’s in love with Lanai (the white dog).
If you incorporate something you love to do in with your exercising your dog, you both will have a great time. And, your dog will look forward to it daily just as you would.
To keep your favorite activities with your dog from getting boring, we suggest any of the following:
[checklist]
- Alternate your path to make it fresh and new
- Let friends join in (make sure their dog is dog-friendly and under control)
- Break in between the exercise session with games such as fetch
[/checklist]
Whatever you put into your dog, you will receive back more than double!
Dog Walk How-To
This is a short vid-clip of how we walk our dogs, or dogs that we take care of, here at KYPSAH–always under control. Walking the dogs and not allowing them to lead, brings them a great sense of comfort and security as they know that we’re in charge.
By nature, dogs require a pack leader as a matter of necessity. If the human doesn’t take charge as the pack leader, than the dog will by default. This is where problems arise with aggression issues and all sorts of nasty behavior (when the dog has taken the Alpha position).
Hiking Dogs…
…and Howling Coyotes.
If you’re hiking in the mountains, more than likely, and at some point, you will probably run into a pack of coyotes (not wolves, coyotes…there are no wolf packs in California and haven’t been for many years; the last wolf was killed many, many years ago).
The coyotes will most generally sound out a warning howl to their pack to announce your presence. Keep calm at all times. Note their position and direct your dog-pack calmly away in the opposite direction while keeping alert to the coyote’s presence.
The word ‘calm’ cannot be overstated in this scenario. As your dog-pack’s Pack Leader, it’s your job to be on top of things and to remain calm at all times. This will bring about a sense of calm to your dogs even if the dogs are somewhat alarmed (think of a paramedic as an example of how to be in an emergency–calm and a stable force). If you’re not in control of your emotions and wrought with fear, your dogs will sense it immediately and may run (some dogs will run towards the coyotes).
In the case where one of your dogs does run off toward the howling (oftentimes, the coyotes are not within eyesight), though it’s a scary time, you have to focus on the others and keep your emotions in-check. Again, direct your dog-pack in the opposite direction. Call the wayward dog back to you and continue calling as you’re moving the rest of the dogs away. Get the pack to a safe place, i.e., your vehicle, your house, etc.
In the event your dog hasn’t come back to you by now, keep calling the dog and and take a weapon with you, as well as, a leash just in case you run directly into the coyotes. A weapon can be defined as anything from a rock to a stick to a gun.
Questions:
1. Can you run?
Answer: Yes, you can run but run with an inner sense of calm, or as calm as you can get…keeping mentally vigilant on the location of the howls to size-up the coyote pack’s position.
2. Has one of your dogs ever ran off before? If so, what did you do?
Answer: Yes, it has happened to us one time. And, it’s something that you don’t forget. In a dog pack of four, one ran off toward the howls. Generally, the coyotes will send out a lure to entice a dog to go play with it. Once the dog takes the bait, they’re usually dead. The [coyote] lure will lure the dog away far enough and towards the rest of the pack where they’re waiting to attack and kill the dog. In our case, the dog came back within (a very long) five to ten minutes of being gone and was perfectly fine. If we would’ve gone after the one dog when the dog initially took off, the whole pack, and us ourselves, would have been placed quite possibly in mortal danger.
3. Did you lose a dog during the video?
Answer: No. This near run-in with coyotes, in the video, was a different time from the instance above. In fact, all the dogs, in the dog-pack on the video, were under great voice-recall and were calm. A couple of them were definitely on alert but not panicked. We continued our hike moving in the opposite direction and had a great time actually!
4. Aren’t you afraid of coyotes?
Answer: No. In fact, we love them! We just make it a point to–once we’ve entered their territory–respect them and move out of it.
5. Have you ever killed a coyote?
Answer: No. And, we wouldn’t unless we had no other choice. The coyotes have a right to exist just like we do. We believe there has to be a mutual respect for each other especially when you’re taking it upon yourself to enter into their domain.