Heart Like a Dog

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

I Hear You…Day Three Hundred, Three

By

I hear you, I really do.

Okay, technically I can’t really hear you, but I read what you write in the comments and I mull them over in my head and then implement your suggestions.

Savy?

Example: I’ve written about how frustrated I’ve been with Delilah and her inability/unwillingness to “down.”  I threw it out to Blogville (I’ve changed it from Blogland to Blogville because I think it sounds cozier; like a small community.) 🙂 Anyway, I digress.  I read your thoughts and suggestions and decided I’ve become too complacent with my dogs.

When we first started training Sara always used to say, “You want this treat?” “What are you going to do for me?” I’ve kind of forgotten that.  But in the last couple of days your comments and suggestions has helped it to resurface.

I decided to really focus on the “down” command.

Let’s forget Sampson for a moment, honestly that guy is so well mannered as soon as a plate comes out of the cabinet he goes to his place.  If his mat isn’t down, he will go to Delilah’s mat.  Yes, for right now we will be focused on Delilah.

I bring the dogs to their mats and tell them “down,” I will only say it once.  If Delilah won’t “down” immediately I will sit and wait until she does.  I tell her to “stay” and I hold my hand out in front of me like I was telling someone to stop.  I wait a few seconds and slowly back away holding my hand out the entire time.  (She usually moves a little bit closer but will normally stay in the general area.)

For the past two days, I’ve been having her “down” before I feed her.  I bring her dish to her and I make her “down” and wait until I release her.   Tonight at obedience class, she went into most of her “downs” rather easily.  I was quick to praise with a stroke of her head and a really happy “Good Girl!” I did use treats BUT not every single time.

Around 9:00 pm Delilah let me know it was snack time; normally the dogs follow me into the kitchen and watch me get their treats dancing and prancing the entire time. Tonight I decided Delilah could “down” on her mat and wait for me to bring it to her.

Guess what?

Yup, she stayed in her down when I went to get the treat!

So a great giant THANK YOU to all of you who give me comments, make me think and generally support me on a daily basis.   I do appreciate you.  And yes, I am writing to YOU!

K-9 Kamp….Day Three Hundred, Two

By

Tonight ends week three of K-9 Kamp hosted by Koly and Kelly; I thought week two was hard.  PHEW!! We did much better last week than we did this week.

I did try to play tug with Delilah, the rope toys didn’t interest her at all, then I found the rubber chicken and squeak, squeak, squeaked it.

She grabbed hold of the chicken and pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and pulled!   She pulled me over.  And this is the REAL reason I don’t play tug with the dogs; I laugh too much.  She pulls so hard, that she pulls me over and I laugh so much that I can’t keep playing.

Eventually Sampson will want a piece of the action; he will grab hold of the chicken and try to take it away, sometimes they tug for a bit and sometimes he just grabs the toy and starts running like a crazy dog.

It’s best if I just stay out of their way! They don’t care who/what they hit when they start wrestling!

It may take the rest of kamp to complete THIS challenge!

 

2nd Dog Syndrome….Day Three Hundred, One

By

Sunday I had a wonderful conversation catching up with my friend Ann.  Ann works for Labs 4 Rescue as an intake/placement coordinator.  About four or five months ago Ann adopted/rescued a little black lab named Walter.  Ann knew that Walter would be her last puppy as there comes a time when we all know we just can’t handle the energy of a puppy anymore. 🙁

When Ann and I adopted Walter and Delilah, we already had dogs.  Good, well-trained dogs.  Ann and I got to talking about the training struggles we were having with Walter and Delilah; and it dawned on me; we are dealing with 2nd dog syndrome.  I compare this to having your 2nd child.

With your first child you put a lot of time and energy into them; you take pictures of everything!  Their baby books, and scrapbooks are up to date.  You anxiously wait for every new discovery, and meticulously document it;  you see life through their eyes.

By the time the 2nd child comes along; you’re tired.  You no longer have the energy you had with the first; there are more things that need to be completed;  you aren’t as meticulous with documenting their progress….with taking pictures.  You sometimes miss the beauty of the world as seen through their eyes.

The same is true when you get a 2nd (or third) dog.  Time is a factor; you have another dog to take care of, a dog who has come to rely on you.  You forgot what kind of work you put into that first dog….work that made that dog an awesome dog.  Somehow you expect this new being will automatically know what you want from them and what they need to do.   But they don’t.  It’s easy to become frustrated with your new dog because they don’t seem to be learning as fast as your first dog.

You look at that sweet, perfect first dog and say, “What am I doing wrong?”

Step back, take a breath and refocus.   Take a minute to look at life through their eyes.   See if you can fit just 10 minutes of training in per day, it will make a difference.

Don’t fall victim to the 2nd dog syndrome; grab a bag of treats or your dog’s favorite toy and get training!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...