Archive for the ‘behavior’ Category
A training tip that bears repeating
Here is something I said recently to my class at my local dog training club and I think bears repeating here:
When you are training your dog, work with your dog where she or he IS not where you think she or he should be. This is the number one rule in dog training: train the dog you have, not the one you wish you had. Also, if your dog shows any behavior that is particularly difficult for you (jumping, aggression, not listening, barking) realize that for the dog it is simply a behavior – for you it is a whole story about how the dog is “bad” or “mean” or “doesn’t like me” or “doesn’t listen”. Treat the behavior as a behavior and it will be easier to manage. Every behavior works under the same set or principles: Behaviors that are rewarded continue, behaviors that are ignored or “corrected’ go away. But sometimes we are rewarding behaviors when we think we are not, and some behaviors (like barking) are self rewarding, so be careful to really look at what is going on…and this is where the help of a trainer comes in handy as they can see things we can’t when we are right up in something. Never hesitate to ask a question or to seek advice. We’ve all been there!
Puppies learn to walk and play
Today the pups had a busy day…they met a number of new people as we had a minor family party over here. They are alert for longer periods of time (5-10 minutes now instead of 1 or 2) and are actually beginning to play with each other! The “play” consists of licking, biting and climbing on each other but you can see the beginnings of real puppy tussling happening. I was pleased to see that they are comfortable being held by other people and are not alarmed by their different scents. This is the beginning of their socialization, the lessons they need to learn to go out into the world as good dogs.
You can watch this and other CanineFostering.com videos on YouTube.
As I was sitting in the puppy pen a few of the pups nuzzled into my leg and tried to nurse! I can’t describe the emotions that came up for me easily…it was heartwarming is the easiest way to sum it up. It told me that they trust me, they KNOW me, and they think that their mama and I are the same being; the same source of food and comfort. I felt honored to be trusted like that, to be sought after for comfort and nourishment. It is the same feeling I have when, as older pups, they come running to me as a mass sum, tails wagging at the sound of my voice. All of their bodies communicating the same thing: It is YOU! I LIKE YOU! It always makes me feel special to them. I like that feeling.
Update on puppy Poppy
Here is an update on Poppy, a pup from Chloe’s litter. We love getting these updates to pass along!
Poppy also just had her exam and vaccinations last week and she did well. She has grown a bit but is still seems to be the smallest one at 8.2 lbs although I think she has grown since. Like Jackson (formerly Jacob) — Poppy is getting a little more golden in her face and ears — at this point we have not noticed her stripe getting smaller and hope she keeps this as well.
Our biggest challenge has been the biting — but have since yesterday taken a different approach and it seems to be making all the difference. I watched a dog training video that talked about how this biting is the normal way puppies play with each other so we just need to redirect them. I kind of knew this but hearing this again helped me take a different approach. We were almost in a power struggle and I was getting her more riled up than redirecting her, but now instead of continually saying no and clapping my hands — If she bites my hand I say one ‘no bite’ and gently redirect her to her toy and continue to do this in a gentle manner. When she is biting on her toy I continually praise her and if she comes up and licks me instead of bites. I continually say good ‘kisses’ and she still gets a bit riled up at times or starts biting too hard but then I step out of her area for a bit or take her for a walk — and these times that she gets kind of crazy riled up seems to happen less and don’t last as long.
She seems to be fine with her crate and finally slept for 7 hours for the first time last night (11 – 6). She was getting up at 5. She has been to quite a few of my kids softball baseball games and is soooo good at these games (as long as we find her shade) — all the kids love having her there and she really seems to enjoy the kids as well — she is also making a lot of friends in our neighborhood!
Amber the escape artist
I have just learned that Amber (formerly Chloe), our foster mama prior to Daisy, has an interesting story to tell…I heard from her new owner, R-, that she is a bit of an escape artist. 5 days after her spay surgery, she was left alone as usual during the day but decided that she wanted to get out. She jumped the gate keeping her in her room in the house, OPENED a door to a bedroom, torn through a screen and JUMPED out a two story window!!! The story has a happy ending, though.
Amber chose her escape route well and landed on some bushes and was found running around the neighborhood by a neighbor. R- was understandable shaken but a vet check put her mind at ease, no harm was done. SO R- and I had a discussion about separation anxiety and I reiterated my belief that crating a dog, especially an adult dog, for under 5 hours at a time (Amber is alone for three hours, has an afternoon walk with a dog walker and is alone again for another three) IF she is given adequate exercise (a LONG walk) before and after is not cruel but in fact helpful for anxious dogs. Whew. I hope this helps and I’m sure R- would appreciate our support!! I feel certain that she will tackle this problem but it sure puts puppy mouthing into perspective doesn’t it??!! Yikes. Hang in there R-.
Mama dog gets a bath
Well, today was SO hot that I figured if I bathed Sandy? Daisy? Angie? (still haven’t found a name right for her) outside she wouldn’t mind the cold water and she’d dry off in a snap. Plus I figured she’d like the time outside. Boy was she freaked out by the water! It could be that it was spraying at her from the hose (I tried to be gentle but there isn’t that gentle a way for one to spray another with a hose) or that it was cold, or that she’s never had a bath or a hose bath before – I’m not sure which it is. But once she realized that all I was doing was hosing her down and that she couldn’t get away from me, she submitted. It sort of was humbling to me, how dogs let us submit our will on them rather easily. Now I know what I was doing was for her own good and she ultimately seemed to really enjoy being clean (you know how dogs do that rubbing thing on the carpet once they’re clean? She was rubbing herself along the garage door!!) but it sort of hit me how I could have been doing anything to her and she would eventually give in. How trusting, and how sad that so many people betray that trust. It just really hit me today for some reason.
But anyway, hopefully she will be ok with her next bath and hopefully I didn’t teach her to be deathly afraid of them…I think not as, like I said, she clearly got into it after a bit. And it is nice to have her clean!! Birth is a yucky business and that first week continues to be a bit yucky. Add to that her bout of whipworm and the poop that goes a long with that, and her pups crawling all over her and THEIR loose stool and… well, you get the picture. The dog needed a bath. (more…)
Bauer update at 7 months old
An update on our winter puppy, Bauer. He had his first “sleep over” recently and here’s what his owner had to say:
I was playing around with my Picasa photo editor, and made a “collage” of Bauer, from puppy to well, big puppy! 🙂 I thought you would get a kick out of seeing how fast he grew!
I thought you’d enjoy some of the pictures I had a chance to take this weekend….Oscar spent a couple days with us…
I was a little worried at first, because both Bauer and Oscar are used to being the main dog around, but so far everything has gone well with Oscar staying over. We’ll be sad to see him go home tomorrow! N- dropped Oscar off shortly after I got home from work, and of course he and Bauer had a blast playing right away. As soon as N- left, I leashed both of them up and took them for an hour walk. I figured this was the best way for Oscar to learn how things are run in my family, and I think this truly did help! Bauer an Oscar walked so well together…..when we’re out walking, I feel like I’m the local dog whisperer or something. At first, I thought it was weird that so many people were staring at me and commenting on the puppies and me walking both. Then I stopped to think about it and realized that to an outsider, I was walking two “ferocious” looking dogs. This made me laugh, as this is not the case…they’re merely two 7 month old puppies (I keep saying 6….I just realized Bauer is 7 months!!) so full of energy they don’t know what to do with themselves.
