luka

Christmas morning

2009-12-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

Photos by Henk

2009-10-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

On holiday

2009-09-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

Long Beach, Vancouver Island

2009-09-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

More Long Beach

2009-09-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

And more Long Beach

2009-09-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

Breakfast in Parksville

2009-09-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

The Family

2009-08-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

My best friend

2009-08-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

My Aussie mates

2009-08-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ahead of Ironman Canada

2009-08-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

Framed - I didn't do it

2009-08-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

Marathon - Two

2009-06-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

Pathfinder to Water

2009-05-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

16kg

2009-05-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

That's what the scale says tonight.

Water is my friend

2009-05-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

Back to shore

2009-05-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

The race

2009-05-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

Luka the Marathon Dog

2009-04-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Before he's even five months old, Luka has already found fame in the BMO Vancouver Marathon newsletter.

To see the story, click here

On the bottle

2009-04-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Beach

2009-04-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

Patio perch

2009-04-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thoughts from the vet

2009-04-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

We met with a vet on Friday - a free visit that came with the adoption. Here are a few of her ideas:

*time out .. use a room where you can put him for 2-3 mins when he is acting in a manner unbecoming 'our' pup .. but keep it separate from the crate which we want to encourage him to see as a place of refuge and rest

*don't give him bones as in real bones .. they are too hard and will break his teeth

*kong .. great .. fill with his food, carrots, celery, cucumber, sweet pepper .. but don't fill with peanut butter which is not a natural food for a dog

*amount of food .. move to three from two measuring cups a day .. switch to puppy food .. Hills Prescription Diet P/D (she gave us one bag free to start) .. breakfast, noon, dinner .. perhaps spacing out the food also will help - eventually - to slow the rate at which he eats

*when he nips/jumps up/barks, he is seeking attention .. move away/ignore .. and do so immediately .. you want to send an immediate signal that his activity results in a complete withdrawal of attention

*walking .. rather than one long walk, go for two 20-minute sessions which should be plenty for his age .. lots of rest in between .. he can easily be in the crate for most of the day .. make sure that he has access to water and enough room to move about

*treats: greenies (like dog biscuits) and veggies as noted above

*he might be ideal for a 'gentle leader' .. sort of a muzzle .. but one that makes it easier to give him corrections

Thoughts from the trainer

2009-04-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

We had a private session with Tiffany Wall who with her husband run The Country Ranch, dog boarding and training. The one-on-one session was $52.50 and we were there for about 1.5 hours. She believes in positive reinforcement.

*exercise .. substitute the morning walk for morning exercise .. fetch .. the idea is to get him running back and forth until his level of alertness is noticeably lower

*he's capable of walking for 40-45 mins .. becareful though of having him run at this stage because the movement of running beside us is too repetitive, that said if he's running around on his own in a park in a natural way that's good because he's using a range of muscles

*leash .. she recommends using two to start .. one short with a regular collar for safety and the second is a rope one, she had a 27 foot one, with an industrial clasp, and she placed this one high on the dog's neck .. why? .. because it is easier to initiate a fast response to correct behavior and then release the line so it's loose again .. it should be a very fast action ..

*walking .. we want him to walk behind the knee on whichever side of you that he is walking .. the second leash can be clipped to a belt loop (for safety if he slips off the rope one)

*when correcting using a sharp, consistent 'Tsk' sound .. the intent is to later be able to use that sound alone to initiate a correction, especially if the dog is off the leash

*using a crate for a required nap is good .. at times when she is on a movie set with a dog, the dog would spend most of a 14-hour day in a crate in order to relax

*using a crate in the car is good .. it allows you to open the windows especially when the weather is warmer and you need to nip into the store etc

*using a cover over the crate is good .. it allows you to walk up and give a fast shake to the crate to settle him down if necessary .. the benefit is that he can't anticipate your move

*using a shake can or spray bottle can be effective in distracting and/or breaking a habit before it becomes ingrained .. such as digging in the garden/yard .. but the key is to be selective in its use and hide the can/bottle from the dog so he doesn't see it as a game and doesn't realize that it is coming from you .. the idea is to break the habit/snap the dog out of it before he starts to think what he is doing is 'fun'

*walking/jumping up .. scoot your legs/body away when/if he tries to jump up .. don't give him a chance to touch you .. it a dominance issue and needs to be nipped in the bud

*for nipping/biting .. use a fast and fairly tight pinch on the upper jaw/gums/teeth to make it clear that the action is unacceptable .. he will give a yelp .. that tells you that he gets the point

*some slight/easy mouthing is OK but it must be clear to the dog what is easy, and what is not acceptable .. most pups determine the right level of pressure by playing with other pups/dogs

*a submissive dog is a relaxed dog

*toilet training .. use a command like 'time for a break' to signal time to pee .. and immediately praise when he pees (don't wait for him to return to where you are and sit because he could confuse the intent of the praise) .. focus the peeing in a designated area and have him on the leash while doing so ..

*always supervise him, keep him within sight while inside the restricted area of the house at this stage and when he starts to pee, startle him with a clap of your hands and a stern yell.. then take him outside to his pee area immediately .. by startling him he may stop peeing before he's finished which gives you the chance to remind him where his spot is and then praise him when he does pee outside ..

*using food to reward is good but don't go overboard with it .. the idea is to create behavior that does not require food rewards ..

*in using the sit command .. follow it with 'OK' to let him know it's Ok to start moving again after an appropriate time .. that's important so that he learns to sit and won't be distracted into moving until he receives the command, OK, to do so

*border collies .. tend to nip .. tend to bark .. both issues need to be curbed early so they don't become habits .. expect him to continue to test through the eighth month .. the degree of testing will depend on the effectiveness of our level of correcting

*sound .. sharp clap of the hands and simple word can be very effective in making it clear that something is unacceptable such as jumping up on a couch etc

pup of 12 weeks should be exposed to 12 different things .. people, dogs, ground surfaces .. expose him to as much as you can at this early stage of his life

Midmorning crash

2009-04-14T12:58:00.001-07:00

Relaxing in the sun

2009-04-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Boundaries

2009-04-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Day Two was about learning boundaries - both for Luka and for us. I can't say that we got it right ... as in none of us did.

Luka was more interested in playing with his leash than walking. And more interested in working on his natural herding skills - nipping his walker into line - than walking.

Hmmm .. a couch

2009-04-12T18:38:00.001-07:00

Exploring my new home. From here I can almost reach - and am tempted to try - Tim's desk. He won't be able to keep any food there anymore - at least while I'm in the hood.

My shelter photo

2009-04-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

Luka

2009-04-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

My name comes from the town of Melaleuca, Tasmania. It's one of the end points for the South Coast Track.

As best as the BC SPCA Squamish folks can tell I am a 14 to 16 week old lab/border collie/pointer mix.

I am energetic, outgoing and friendly.

For more on Melaleuca.

For more on the South Coast Track.