Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Dog Training….Delilah Style

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After last week’s fiasco where Delilah took off on me I vowed to find another way and I promised to share that with you.  Well here goes!

Many of you, so very many of you rallied to my support and offered suggestions and ideas for working with her.  There were so many awesome suggestions that I couldn’t pick just one….or two…or three.   Here’s what I came up with.

I really think Delilah is a very smart girl and as such I need to keep her interested.  I need to vary her walks and keep them interesting to her, so interesting that she can’t possibly leave me, because she might miss something.

In other words, our walks are going to be like going to Disney World….for dogs.

I put her on a 15 foot leash so she isn’t too far away from me.

I’m sure all of you positive dog trainers know the name for this game, but I’m calling it, “Oh you caught me.”

I play it this way, I wait until I have a loose leash (this can be a while because she is almost always at the end of her leash) and I place a few pieces of whatever is in my treat bag on a flat rock.  Most times she turns around and catches me in the act and I say, “Oh you caught me,” or “My you are quicker than I am.”

Sometimes I have to wait a minute and pretend that I’m just placing it, because she isn’t really paying attention. 🙂

Currently I have some ‘diet’ Blackwood chicken kibble and some beef jerky from Trader Joe’s in my treat bag.  I have to be sure and place the treats on a flat rock that doesn’t have moss, sticks, or rocks on it or for sure that crazy girl would inhale it all.

Sometimes I can’t get her to leave my side.  Not that I’m complaining, mind you.

I’ve been playing the “You caught me game” since last Saturday and decided yesterday to incorporate some other ideas into our walk.

First I had her sit while Sampson and I walked away from her.  My goal was to recall her to me, but as I walked out of her sight she came running to me.  I was actually excited by this, but since she didn’t ‘stay’ I brought her back and re-sat her and then walked away again and this time she did awesome.

I also played a little game of Kibble Catch with her.

I think the best thing would be for Delilah to have a job, and will be looking for some kind of training or class that she and I can participate in together, to help cement our bond.  I also intend on Thursday obedience class to be our thing, Hubby and Sampson will need to find something else to do.

I intend to get a harness for her and a doggie backpack, one day she can wear a harness, one day she can walk on long leash, one day she will wear a pack.  The key for Delilah is to not get too comfortable with any given thing.

When I first put her on the 30 foot leash, she became a model walker.  She rarely left the trails and stayed very close to me.  Once she became comfortable, she started exploring farther and farther away, and eventually started running off.

Oh and Dr. McConnell’s dvd came the other day, I hope to check that out this weekend. 🙂

Changing the topic really quickly, Mel Freer of No Dog About It Blog is a strong warrior fighting a battle against puppy mills.  Mel lives in Minnesota and you may or may not be aware but a bill is prepping for a house vote and Mel needs your support.  If you live in Minnesota, please visit Mel’s blog and follow the link to sign the petition.

If you don’t live in Minnesota, please visit Mel’s blog and re-post it on facebook, tweet it, stumble it, or consider adding a link to your blog.

Together we really can make a difference!!

Book update: My book has 19,083 words.

Embrace Who She Is

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I made a promise to myself when I started this blog that I would always be honest, which is why there were two very emotional and raw posts last week.

I was extremely disappointed in Delilah last Monday and in my abilities to train her.

In two short months, on May 26th we will celebrate the five-year anniversary of Delilah’s “Gotcha Day.”  Which means I’ve been working with her for a very long time, as I am not one of those people who get  a dog and think by some miracle they will know exactly what is expected of them without any training.

We went through all the training classes with Sampson and he did marvelously, I figured we had this in the bag.  I quickly realized Delilah would need formal training.

We enrolled in classes.  Sara reminded me last week when she yelled at me to quit writing bad stuff about Delilah on the blog, of our first class.  Our classes were stubborn meets stubborner and I don’t know which of us was which.  That first class I had to practically lay on Delilah to get her into a down.  I’ve since (thanks to all of you) revised my training philosophy and will never again lay on her to get her into a down.

My walking friend also made me realize that she hasn’t been working off-leash for very long at all, just over a year.  It was only January of last year when we started walking the trails.

Saturday I went to pick up dog food and spoke with Sandy our raw food mentor.  Somehow we started talking about Delilah and I was explaining how excited Delilah is around food and how she jumps backwards all the way to the place where she gets fed, never once taking her eyes off her food bowl.

Sandy just stood there, nodding her head up and down with a huge smile on her face.

“What?” I asked, “Why are you standing there smiling?”

“Embrace who she is, someday she won’t be able to do that” was her response.

I get that, I really do.  I already see the white in Sampson’s face and it makes my heart hurt.   But I want the best of both worlds, I want a dog that can run around and have fun but listens to me when I need or want them to.

Is that even possible?

Tomorrow IS Another Day

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You’ve all been so supportive and kind to me over the last couple of days, leaving comments and suggestions.  I wanted to answer each and every one of you personally and I hope I have.

There was lots of great advice and suggestions in every single comment and I want to dedicate an entire blog post to just exactly how I plan to get Delilah and myself back on track, it just won’t be today.

My little grandchildren needed me, so this will be a very short post.

I returned the remote control collar to my friend without trying it on Delilah.  When and if I decide to use an e-collar, I will have a trainer come out to make sure I use it correctly.  I do not wish to set her back or throw off her training by using it incorrectly.

I have ordered “Lassie Come Home” by the wonderful Dr. Patricia McConnell and until that arrives and I have watched it, Delilah is on leash on our walks.

Her lovely 30 foot leash was cut short and even though I have another 30 foot leash, I went out and bought a 15 footer.  She is now much closer to me and easier to control.  It is a pain in the butt when walking with others, and so we may have to change-up our walking habits and walk alone for a bit. I am okay with this.

Much closer and easier to control.

It seems kind of mean to say, but as luck would have it, my walking buddy won’t be available much in the next couple of weeks which will give me some good time to work with Delilah.

The truth is, I had a bad day and I succumbed to frustration and despair.

It happens.  That’s how I roll.  I give in to it and let myself live it and breathe it and then I slap myself and say, “That’s enough, this is getting you nowhere.”  I pick myself up, dust myself off and figure out a way around the obstacle.

Right now off-leash for Delilah is an obstacle, so until I figure out a way to overcome it, she will be on leash.  End of story.  And I’m completely okay with it.

I want to end with thanking you all again for the warmth and love you gave so unconditionally, it really was like a virtual hug every time I read one your comments.

XOXO

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