Motorcycle Dogs…

What makes you smile…my dogs make me smile.  Every dog has that one thing that just makes them crazy with happiness…a game of fetch…a special treat or toy…for our Lacey…its Harley Davidson motorcycles.  She is our little biker dog…when she hears the bike fire up she tries to crawl up my legs to get in to her harness…

Taking Lacey for motorcycle rides was born out of Bret and I trying to figure out activities for her that would satisfy her crazy side…Lacey is a fun dog but she is a mischief maker and has little to no fear of heights (she will leap off of anything), no fear of other animals (of any kind)…pretty much no fear of anything that most dogs would shy away from…she likes a challenge and adventure.

When we met Lacey she had been surrendered because she was a “chronic biter”.  She definitely sharpened her choppers on us a few times.  In fact, the day I met her she leaped at my face and bit me in the nose…hard.  Most people would pass on such a dog…but Lacey was out of options…she had no where to go.  The day she put a few holes in my nose she also met my other dogs; which back then was my two labs and my Rottweiler.  Despite being a fraction of their size she instantly took to them and was running with the pack like she belonged with them her whole life.  She was also taking their cues…when they backed her down…she heeded them…I saw hope for her in that.  We have never looked back from the day we met her…Lacey came home with us and very quickly figured out new patterns of behavior (that didn’t include biting people).  Lacey is not the type of dog that will cooperate with typical training methods…she wants nothing to do with.  When I try using my clicker, treats and typical methods…she literally turns her back to me.  She is above my style of training.  So I had to use the approach of “capturing” behavior.   The first few months that Lacey lived with us she would only get rewards…food, pets, snuggles when she was calm…when she acted up I instantly removed from what pleased her (just removing my interaction and presence from her worked magic).  To teach her to sit, down, stay, etc…I had to “capture” those behaviors and reward them as she naturally performed them…she caught on fairly quickly without have to “subject” herself to being trained.   While capturing is a slower road to train a dog it is certainly effective.

Today, Lacey is the love of our life…she is the dog we take with us every where …the dog (well one of the dogs) that sleeps in the middle and definitely the apple of her daddy’s eye.

The bike is tuned up…the weather is warming up and Lacey is saddled up…she was truly Born to Ride!  We are looking forward to a summer of riding fun…discovering new things in Kentucky with our little biker dog!

I am working on new sketches of Lacey in her tough girl gear…she has a lot to say and its time to put it to canvas…she is going to be my newest Pawffiti artist.

Have a great week!

Rescue On!

Nancy