Search Results for: FREIDA

Frieda has one of the most interesting lives of any dog I know or have lived with. She was sold by a backyard breeder in the Adirondacks to an auto body shop owner in South Glens Falls,N.Y., as a guard dog, she lived outside in the car lot at night in the fenced-in lot, was locked up in a tiny kennel all day. (She saved a family from a fire, but that is another story.) To train her, the owner banged on the fence and threw rocks at her. When she got pregnant, he took her up the New York State Thruway and tossed her out of the car near Warrensburg in the Adirondacks. I learned these details of her life from the man’s wife some years after he died.

Frieda lived in the woods, in the wild, for some years before she made her way south to Queensbury, N.Y. and began a year-long cat and mouse game with the SPCA, which finally drugged some steak and caught her. Her trials were not over, for nearly a year hundreds of people passed up the chance to adopt her and her time was running out when her fortunes changed. My former girlfriend walked in the door, decided Frieda was adorable (to my knowledge, the only time the word has ever been used in connection with this dog, a Rottweiler-Shepherd mix of great prey drive.) The two fell instantly in love and Freida occupied the next months and years of her life with trying to eat me and otherwise keep me away from Maria. We worked it out, Frieda is busy now at the new farm  guarding us, spending her days with Maria in her studio, cuddling with me and Maria and stalking woodchuks and chipmunks – okay, she is a sweetie – and keeping trucks, bicyclists and joggers away from the property. Except for the mail truck and UPS and Fedex, she’s doing well.

At every Open House, I have this custom. I take Frieda for at least one walk through the crowd to visit Maria and she does very well. She does not wish to be petted or cuddled with – somebody always tries – but she is getting used to it, and I make her lie down and talk about training her. It has become a part of Frieda’s work, a part of the Open Houses I look forward to. Frieda’s story will be told fully in my next book, “Second Chance Dog: A Love Story,” which tells the tale of Frieda’s life, my training work with her, and the way in which she helped bring Maria and me together. If you wish to pre-order this book and have it signed by me and Maria, you can order it from Battenkill Books and their special Second Chance Pre-Order page. You can also call the store at 518 677-2515 or e-mail Connie Brooks at [email protected] The book is out November 5, and Frieda and I look forward to meeting some of you tomorrow.

Frieda has won my heart. I like to say she is the only real man in the house.

Something new: Starting today, and every other Wednesday, you can ask the nutritionists at Fromm Family Food questions about nutrition issues involving your dogs and cats directly. This topic will appear on Facebook – the blog doesn’t permit me to post questions here – and Fromm nutritionists will look at the questions and answer the ones they can respond do. Fromm has perhaps the best reputation in the animal food business, they are the oldest family-owned holistic pet food company in America, they do not outsource their food, use the freshest ingredients,  have never had a recall. I agreed to have Fromm as a sponsor because it is the food I have been feeding Red, Lenore and Frieda.

Almost all of the corporate dog food companies are experiencing recalls, they simply don’t seem to care as much about your pets. I believe Fromm does.

All of my dogs were having food related issues. Red’s coat was dry and coarse, he needed a high calorie food for his work, Frieda was suffering from allergies, itching and dry coat, and Lenore was getting older, needed a good food to keep her weight even and her energy high. She was also scratching almost continuously. I was researching “Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets Die” and talking to a lot of vets and a lot of them urged me to try Fromm, they said it was the best dog and cat food available.

I did, and the results were quite impressive. Red’s coat turned into a darker, glossy brown, his energy was and is high, all of the allergy issues and dry skin and itching problems disappeared. Freida is on senior food, and her coat is still glossy, shedding is way down, her scratching and Lenore’s has stopped. Lenore’s weight dropped a bit and has remain steady. My vet is very happy with these changes, and I hate to talk about it and not in detail but dog lovers know that solid stool is important, and that has also improved dramatically.

So Fromm is a sponsor of Bedlam Farm and of my podcasts and I am happy to invite them to answer questions on nutrition. I’ll post a separate topic on Facebook and this will be a regular Wednesday feature on my Facebook Page. They won’t be able to answer all of your questions, they will respond to the ones that are appropriate. Thanks, this will be fun to follow. Nutritional information is also available on Fromm’s website and through their customer service department.

Writing my next book “Second Chance Dog,” I spent a lot of time researching Freida’s life, tracking her history. I was helped greatly in my research by a woman who owned Frieda with her husband while Frieda was a guard dog protecting his auto body shop near Glens Falls, N.Y. She had been purchased by a “breeder” in the Adirondacks who sold Rottweiler-Shepherd mixes for $50 as guard animals. I’ll spare the details of Frieda’s treatment, but I did learn she escaped from the auto body shop, was loose for several weeks and came back pregnant. When her owner learned this, he put Frieda in his car drove up the New York State Thruway and let her out of the car near the Warrensburgh, N.Y., exit, the entry to the three-million acre Adirondack Park.

Frieda lived in the Adirondacks for several years. I imagine she had her babies and they died in the wild or survived and are roaming those woods still. Frieda made her way South back to the Glens Falls area and avoided the ASPCA for many months. When she was finally captured, she was in the shelter for nine months before Maria walked in the door and took her home.  I learned while researching the book that she saved a family by alerting them to a fire. She spent years protecting Maria, and watches over her still.She is a wild girl still, filled with love, loyalty, instinct and prey drive. But this is her time to be safe and secure, loved and protected. She does the same for us. She is, in fact, the Second Chance Dog.

Red has been with us for 24 hours as I write this, and I wanted to share what I have done and what is left to do. It was an intense day, and I brought to bear all of my experience, my research, my theories and ideas on a dog that seemed very much worth the effort. For me, training a dog is a spiritual, even religious experience. It is not about simple obedience, but about my entering the language and consciousness of an alien creature and communicating with it in such a way as it can live well and safely in a human world. It is hard to train a dog well, and the process never stops. I want my dogs to feel like Sweepstake winners every day. Failure is a habit I wish to avoid, for them or for me.

First, acclimation. I had Frieda and Lenore inside a separate fence when Red arrived. They got to smell and see  one another for an hour, so there were no sudden confrontations. We walked Frieda and Red on a leash side by side and Freida accepted Red a dozen yards down the path. Red is very savvy about dealing with animals and he did not challenge or disturb Frieda. He read her very well. By this morning, the two of the were lying by the fence together, checking out the sunshine. Lenore is not a problem.

Second, safety, ritual. Dogs are creatures of habit, and I knew Red would be very anxious about leaving Karen and coming to a new place. He wasn’t sure who to pay attention to, what to do. This was a dog who lived in the crate inside his house when he wasn’t working. He clearly didn’t know what to do inside. I established rituals. Frequent walks, and into the crate. Gave him some kibble to get him comfortable. Walked him alone, gave him some treats. Talked to him, softly. After a few hours, he seemed less anxious, he stopped panting.

And respect. Dogs are not people, and I don’t expect them to understand my language. Nor are they children. I don’t know if Red was abused or not, and I don’t much care. He has to know the rules and follow them and I respect his animal nature. We are not alike.

Then, bonding. I took Red out to sheep five times in the last 24 hours, and my feet hurt. This not only focused his attention away from his confusion, it bonded him to me, and calmed him down. It focused me on him, also. We already know one another, as herding does that.  The world makes sense to border collies only when they have work and when they do, it makes complete sense. Today I took him to the vet, to Gardenworks, for two rides in the car, on walks and visits to the pasture. I fed him and gave  him herding commands. I talked to him softly and clearly. I said his name a lot as I fed him and walked him. By this afternoon, he was following me, staying by me, listening to me. He has also spent time along with Maria, and no animal has trouble bonding with her.

Housebreaking.  I kept Red in the crate when he was in the house, fed him there, took him outside frequently where the other dogs eliminate and so did he. I praised him for it, and I believe he got it. He’s been with me much of the evening, and no marking or accidents.  I’ll keep him on a leash or in a crate when he is in the house for a few days to make sure. We started working on street training and by evening, he was pausing at the road with the other dogs. Dogs teach one another a lot, and I want to expose him to Lenore and Frieda so he can learn from them.

Working. Red and I are in sync herding wise, amazing for one day. Have most of our commands down. He comes in too close, doesn’t have a strong lie-down for me yet. Perhaps some testing. Red has a wonderful outrun, great energy and command, very biddable. A great working dog. He has a few lessons to learn in manners – jumping up, breaking a stay. There is plenty of time to get to those, and I don’t want to put much pressure on him now. When he loves me and Maria and the farm and his life, and trusts it all,  then I’ll ask a little more of him. For now, I want him to connect with me and our rituals, feel safe. Feel loved. Know the few and simple rules, learn them one by one. No hectoring.  He is eating with the other dogs, and everybody is good with it. He rode well in the car.

It’s a lot for the first day, but the first day is important. It was positive, loving, successful.  I want to make a strong and good impression on him, get him focused on me, paying attention to me so I can teach him how to live here. I am clear, upbeat, cheerful. I see he is very afraid of sticks of any kind and shivers and trembles when he sees them. So no walking sticks, not yet.

I believe the challenge of training is to permit the dog to be successful in everything he does, while depriving him of the opportunity to fail or to build unwanted traditions. This will go on forever with Red, but I was pleased about how today went.

Red and I had no trouble bonding. I needed another guy around here. Red is an obsessive, like border collies, but an especially sweet and even-tempered creature. He has the professional air of Rose – nothing really distracts or interests him but sheep and the people who bring him to sheep. He paid little attention to the dogs, the barn cats or the donkeys.

Red wlll be here this weekend for the Farewell Pig Barn Art Gallery Show, “Anointing The Goddess,” Saturday and Sunday, 11 to 4. A wonderful lineup of artists. Details on Maria’s site. I’ll see how he does with sheep this week and maybe we can patch a demo together Saturday or Sunday. Simon does not like dogs, so this will have to be managed also.

Tomorrow I’ll work with  him in the morning and then take him into Cambridge, walk him around a bit, see how he does there. Like my other dogs, he does not need a leash. I will start street training tomorrow. Tonight, into the crate. He isn’t housebroken I don’t think so we’ll keep an eye on that. My sense of him is that he won’t have many accidents inside. We’ll see. Freida and he did some sniffing, and then Frieda completely accepted and ignored him.

Red has a good appetite and he ought to sleep tonight after the outruns he did in the meadow. I ought to sleep too.