Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Ads - Quick Note
Just thought I'd post a quick note about the Google ads to the right of the page. These ads are automatically published by Google and don't necessarily reflect my opinions, thoughts or beliefs. Some are good, some are not. Take them with a grain of salt.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Training Rant - Doggie Door Etiquette
Some friends came over to visit us during the holidays and I found I was rather disappointed with their dogs' door etiquette. In fact, it was more than disappointment - it was downright frustrating. We had a 2 year old over who was frightened of dogs - I'm sure you can imagine the screams and tears. We have spent a week working with this little guy and dogs and how they are NOT scary.
Their dogs came in, ran all over the house from person to person and barked at each when they didn't stoop to pat them. If you still didn't stoop, they jumped all over you. One of the dogs came in and proceeded to urinate on the floor in the middle of our living room (the 5 year old lab). Now, I wouldn't mind if the dogs recently joined that family and needed to learn the rules, but two were purchased as puppies (now 2.5 and 3 yrs old) and the third has been in the same house for almost 5 years ("rescue" as 6 month old pup).
Can you imagine the resulting sounds that came out of that 2 year old child? There goes an entire week of teaching the child not to be frightened of dogs.
One of the first things we work on with the dogs we foster as well as our own is how to greet people at the door. Door etiquette works both ways. Coming in and having people come in. Here's what I mean:
People Coming in:
They are expected to keep away from the door when people come in the house and wait until they are called over for their pats. Yes, sometimes they get excited if they know the person and they will let out a bark, but in that case, they are to go get a toy to let out that excitement with. Otherwise, they have a spot to be and a job to do. They are to stay there until after the people get their jackets and boots off. This works particularly well when we have had people come over who are afraid of dogs or just plain don't like them. (It also helps if you have any uniformed officers come to the house or perhaps hunters knocking at the door.) If the people don't wish to greet the dogs, they don't have to.
The Dogs Enter Another House:
If the dogs are the ones that walked in, they are to sit in a heel and wait until we have come in and taken off our shoes/jackets. They are to stay within a few until they have calmed down. Once they have calmed down they are allowed to greet everyone and wander. If they get excited, they are to return to a heel and sit until calm again and the process is repeated.
Our dogs are NOT allowed to jump on people at the door. Period. The only people they are allowed to jump on are adults who call them up and after the dogs are calm and not anywhere near the time of walking through doors.
I believe I've mentioned this before, but when you walk into my place, you have to climb a flight of stairs. Our last "rescue" that never left (the one in the logo pic) would wait until you got to the top of the stairs, then jump on you. I nearly toppled down the stairs a few times before I was able to teach him how to properly greet people. For him the rules are slightly different as he is unable to sit quietly when people walk in the door - now he gets excited and goes to get a toy and lies down in another room until we come see him. This way he can chomp down on the toy and get out that excitement with the toy. Perhaps in another 6 months he will be able to sit quietly when we walk in ... we'll see - he's still a work in progress.
If you don't bother to teach your dog, especially something as common as how to deal with the situation of people coming in the door, never ... NEVER yell at them for not obeying you when you do finally want them to listen and do a certain thing.
I will reiterate again ... Your dog only knows what you've taught him/her, so why would you expect more than they can give?
Do your dogs have door etiquette? What are your rules with doors? Do you have certain behaviours you've taught them?
Their dogs came in, ran all over the house from person to person and barked at each when they didn't stoop to pat them. If you still didn't stoop, they jumped all over you. One of the dogs came in and proceeded to urinate on the floor in the middle of our living room (the 5 year old lab). Now, I wouldn't mind if the dogs recently joined that family and needed to learn the rules, but two were purchased as puppies (now 2.5 and 3 yrs old) and the third has been in the same house for almost 5 years ("rescue" as 6 month old pup).
Can you imagine the resulting sounds that came out of that 2 year old child? There goes an entire week of teaching the child not to be frightened of dogs.
One of the first things we work on with the dogs we foster as well as our own is how to greet people at the door. Door etiquette works both ways. Coming in and having people come in. Here's what I mean:
People Coming in:
They are expected to keep away from the door when people come in the house and wait until they are called over for their pats. Yes, sometimes they get excited if they know the person and they will let out a bark, but in that case, they are to go get a toy to let out that excitement with. Otherwise, they have a spot to be and a job to do. They are to stay there until after the people get their jackets and boots off. This works particularly well when we have had people come over who are afraid of dogs or just plain don't like them. (It also helps if you have any uniformed officers come to the house or perhaps hunters knocking at the door.) If the people don't wish to greet the dogs, they don't have to.
The Dogs Enter Another House:
If the dogs are the ones that walked in, they are to sit in a heel and wait until we have come in and taken off our shoes/jackets. They are to stay within a few until they have calmed down. Once they have calmed down they are allowed to greet everyone and wander. If they get excited, they are to return to a heel and sit until calm again and the process is repeated.
Our dogs are NOT allowed to jump on people at the door. Period. The only people they are allowed to jump on are adults who call them up and after the dogs are calm and not anywhere near the time of walking through doors.
I believe I've mentioned this before, but when you walk into my place, you have to climb a flight of stairs. Our last "rescue" that never left (the one in the logo pic) would wait until you got to the top of the stairs, then jump on you. I nearly toppled down the stairs a few times before I was able to teach him how to properly greet people. For him the rules are slightly different as he is unable to sit quietly when people walk in the door - now he gets excited and goes to get a toy and lies down in another room until we come see him. This way he can chomp down on the toy and get out that excitement with the toy. Perhaps in another 6 months he will be able to sit quietly when we walk in ... we'll see - he's still a work in progress.
If you don't bother to teach your dog, especially something as common as how to deal with the situation of people coming in the door, never ... NEVER yell at them for not obeying you when you do finally want them to listen and do a certain thing.
I will reiterate again ... Your dog only knows what you've taught him/her, so why would you expect more than they can give?
Do your dogs have door etiquette? What are your rules with doors? Do you have certain behaviours you've taught them?
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Featured Rescue - Duke the Yorkshire Terrier
Today's featured rescue is Duke. There are currently 857 Yorkie's listed as adoptable on petfinder.com. This particular one is listed by "Safe Haven Rescue". They are listed as a 501-3(c) non-profit charity and they are located in Ohio. Here is the Safe Haven Rescue website from Middleton, OH ... for some reason, it is not linked from their Petfinder page.Duke is a cute 2 year old Yorkie that was saved from a Puppy Mill existance. The ad doesn't list how he was "saved" ... only that he's looking to start a new life.
http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12686656
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Training Rant ... PVC Collar?
Per a comment on the last blog entry, Rocky and Lacy found this blog and was concerned about a collar that was used on a dog (no, the blog owner did not use it, just posted about it). See picture to the left.Yes, it's made of piping. It is approximately 36" long and the circle is about 4.5" in diameter.
This collar was found on a dog about the size of a lab. The dog was found on a highway wandering around. There has been much speculation about what this collar was used for. I'm sure you can imagine the condition of the dog and its neck after the collar was removed.
If you wish to read the full details, you can find them on the above mentioned blog.
To the right is a picture that shows how the collar was fitted and uses a dog about the same size and shape of the dog that was found wandering around with the "collar" on.
If anyone has seen this sort of collar before, it would be interesting to know what it is used for. Living in "Farm Country", I've seen all sorts of crazy things and ways to control your dog.
Was it a punishment for something?
Was it simply to prevent the dog from slipping through a fence?
What do you think?
Friday, January 2, 2009
News Reel: Top Ten Animal Finds of 2008
Thought you may be curious ... Here's National Geographic's Top Ten Animal Finds: Most Read of 2008. You can find the full story on this link here.
10. Wildlife Park Official Arrested in Gorilla Killings
9. Colossal Squid Thawing; Hints at Even Bigger Beasts (1,091 lbs squid found)
8. PHOTO IN THE NEWS: "Extinct" Primate Found in Indonesia
7. Colossal Squid Has Glowing "Cloaking Device," Huge Eyes
6. Largest Squid Ever Caught Is "Giant, Gelatinous Blob"
5. FIRST PHOTO: "Lost" Deer Species Rediscovered in Trap
4. Heavy Metal-Eating "Superworms" Unearthed in U.K.
3. Lizards Rapidly Evolve After Introduction to Island
2. Vampire Moth Discovered—Evolution at Work
1. Alien-like Squid With "Elbows" Filmed at Drilling Site
Lots of Squid things, eh? Every once in a while, I find it's good to remind myself that the world is big and there are many things going on.
10. Wildlife Park Official Arrested in Gorilla Killings
9. Colossal Squid Thawing; Hints at Even Bigger Beasts (1,091 lbs squid found)
8. PHOTO IN THE NEWS: "Extinct" Primate Found in Indonesia
7. Colossal Squid Has Glowing "Cloaking Device," Huge Eyes
6. Largest Squid Ever Caught Is "Giant, Gelatinous Blob"
5. FIRST PHOTO: "Lost" Deer Species Rediscovered in Trap
4. Heavy Metal-Eating "Superworms" Unearthed in U.K.
3. Lizards Rapidly Evolve After Introduction to Island
2. Vampire Moth Discovered—Evolution at Work
1. Alien-like Squid With "Elbows" Filmed at Drilling Site
Lots of Squid things, eh? Every once in a while, I find it's good to remind myself that the world is big and there are many things going on.
New Year ... Resolutions
Happy New Year everyone. Welcome to 2009. Does anyone have any New Years Resolutions you'd like to share?
The Holiday season was good for me. Horribly busy, but good. Although I may have gained an extra 5 lbs through the last few weeks, I'm pleased to report that not one of my dogs gained that much! They of course had all sorts of treats, but they seem to have burned it off with us home.
My Resolution? Well, like many others out there, I would like to lose that spare tire around my midsection. Just means I'll have to be more creative finding ways to burn off those calories with my dogs! I love to take them out showshoeing. They like to romp around in the deep snow and look for fuzzy animals in the snow (they never find them - I'm sure they sound like a herd of elephants gallavanting through the snow banks!).
Do you have any great ways to get outside and burn calories in the winter time with your dogs? Perhaps the question is ... do you have snow and do you need to make accomodations for that? Please let me know how you keep active in the winter time. I find winter to be more difficult than any other season to get out and about -- especially since we live with so much snow for so many months in the year!!
The Holiday season was good for me. Horribly busy, but good. Although I may have gained an extra 5 lbs through the last few weeks, I'm pleased to report that not one of my dogs gained that much! They of course had all sorts of treats, but they seem to have burned it off with us home.
My Resolution? Well, like many others out there, I would like to lose that spare tire around my midsection. Just means I'll have to be more creative finding ways to burn off those calories with my dogs! I love to take them out showshoeing. They like to romp around in the deep snow and look for fuzzy animals in the snow (they never find them - I'm sure they sound like a herd of elephants gallavanting through the snow banks!).
Do you have any great ways to get outside and burn calories in the winter time with your dogs? Perhaps the question is ... do you have snow and do you need to make accomodations for that? Please let me know how you keep active in the winter time. I find winter to be more difficult than any other season to get out and about -- especially since we live with so much snow for so many months in the year!!
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