Skip to main content

A hard week for training

Last Tuesday I started feeling sluggish and achey so I knew what was about to happen.  As the week went on, it got worse, and I spent most of last weekend curled up with a blanket.  With the holiday coming I really wanted to just push though until I was off for the holidays.  However, my body had other plans.  I've done some work with my pups but not much.  Mostly just trying to stick to our routines, and not sliding backwards on any progress we have made.

Black Poodle sitting in the leaves
Riley in the leaves
Riley finally pooped out the other glove that she ate 2 weeks ago.  I had been watching her very closely for any signs of a blockage, so to find that other glove made me very happy.  Then she turned around and while playing with a tennis ball in the kitchen, she popped it and ATE it! I swear I'm going to have to just keep her on leash for the rest of her life!  She is the first dog I have ever had that eats things like that.  Her breeder told me she is pure Poodle but I think there is some goat in there somewhere.  

Yadi and Marley Yadi made some huge strides in the last week with his food aggression.  We have worked long and hard at getting him comfortable with the other dogs being around him with his food or treats.  Last week Marley sneaked up as I was fixing a cup of coffee and was eating out of his bowl with him.  I was amazed.  I've been working with making them lay down and giving treats out of my hand while they are near each other. 

He and Marley will still every now and then get into it when they are playing and get over stimulated and one of them takes something the wrong way, but that doesn't happen often.  They can both lay in my lap and not get upset at each other.  

Golden Doodle puppy
Little Blue


Since it was going to be a long weekend, I had a training puppy at home with me from Doodlebug Doodles and Poodles.  Little Blue is doing amazing.  He is so smart and so eager to train even though he is only 10 weeks, he will Sit, Down, and Stand with hand signals, Come when called, and is learning to be on a leash, and social skills.  Crate training has not been fun he doesn't like being alone, but we are doing it in small blocks with fun things to play with in the crate.  He sleeps with Riley because he just loves her.  He is sleeping though the night without potty accidents in the crate, and happily runs right outside for playtime with my pups.  

Yadi and Marley in the leavesThat's really about all I've been up to, I have not even been on Facebook much other than to look at posts I was tagged in.  I am hopeful today I would feel better and be up to doing a lot of work with Riley on her Tricks, but I'm just exhausted still. Hopefully soon though.



Labels:
Location: Jonesboro, AR, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Positive Changes of Dog Training

In the last century dog training has been under going an evolution of sorts.  It wasn’t so long ago that the lexicon of dog training included words like punishment, compulsion and Intimidation.  The tools of the trade where things designed to inflict pain and cruelty as a way of training dogs to do or not do things the handlers wanted.  Dogs were punished with ear pinches and the like, if they didn’t perform the desired behaviors.  The idea of training a dog was to break the dog of some bad habit it had.   One of the forefathers of scientific study into dog behavior was Edward Thorndike (1874-1949).  He studied the effect of positive reinforcement on dog behavior.  Thorndike called his study the Law of Effect.  His study put forth the idea that the key to understanding how to train dogs was to understand canine behavior.  Behaviors that produce an effect that is desirable are ones that a dog is more likely to repeat, whereas behaviors...
1 comment
Read more

Potty Training Part 2

In continuation of my getting ready for puppy series, here is Potty Training pt 2. 4 Rule of thumb 1 hour per month of age, give or take an hour 5 Feeding schedules are very useful 6 A crate is your friend The Rule of Thumb  – There is a general rule that trainers follow that goes along with lines of this… A puppy is able to hold their bladder for an hour per month of age, give or take an hour.  So if your puppy is 3 months old, they can hold their bladder at most for 2-4 hours.  This is not a steadfast rule it’s a generalization.  Some pups can hold their bladder long, and some just can’t.  They are born similar to our human children, their bodies and organs are still growing inside of them.  If spank them or get onto them for having a potty accident in the house, they just learn to hide it better. Feeding Schedules are your friends –  When I talk to pet parents about feeding schedules I mean that loosely.  I don’t mean that you have...
1 comment
Read more

Is Humanizing Harmful to Our Dogs

Anthropomorphize –  “the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings, phenomena, material states, and objects or abstract concepts.”  Eric Goebelbecker Copied from < http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/what-anthropomorphism&gt ;  How many times have you or someone you know referred to a dog as a “four-legged child” or “Fur Kid”? I myself have many times. In itself, there really is nothing wrong with wanting to treat your dog like one of the family but just as you would look out for the well being of your family members, you have to look out for your pet’s as well. Going overboard on how much you baby your pet can be psychologically harmful to their well being.  Dogs need certain things for them to lead healthy happy lives. The top 5 are: 1. A confident leader - not a dominant pack leader, but someone who sets rules and boundaries and helps hold them accountable to them.  Someone who helps them to LEARN how to liv...
1 comment
Read more