Puppies are smart: So, Mr. Otis did his BIG job in his pen area last night, not acceptable behavior. To clarify, not where he sleeps, in the middle of his pen. Very unusual, however I think he did it on purpose. Ms. Tami says at 06:15 AM when I went to the bathroom (bedroom door closed and never opened), the puppy knew that and since I did not come out to take him for a walk right away, he left me a gift to clean up. Then during his mid-morning walk, he did not comply with the pack leader, Ms. Tami. Otis simply does not know who he is dealing with, Ms. Tami means business. So off to the doggy hobby wood shop in the garage Tami goes and creates another non-confrontational training aide.
Puppies CAN learn at 9-11 weeks old: As stated above, Ms. Tami invented a new puppy walking training tool and listen to Doggy Dan’s videos on teaching puppy walking. Presto, a long wooden rod with a clip on the end was created. The other end has short rope for Ms. Tami’s wrist like a walking stick. In the clip goes a good smelling treat, we upped the ante on the quality of the treat. Today it is a small piece of a smoked chicken cooked last night on the Big Green Egg smoker. Good stuff. The puppy is put on his lead, the clip with the chicken chunk is put in front of him so he can smell it. All of a sudden, we have an 11 week old puppy, taking a perfectly calm walk, never going in front of the pack leader. Brilliant!
Let’s go gardening: Ms. Tami love to garden but has not done it in a while. I guess she needed an assistant. I am NOT up for that job. SO, Mr. Otis volunteered. Suddenly, Otis goes in the corner of our backyard, where the cement ends and the grass starts. He started digging like crazy. Why this specific area I asked? Neither one of us had a clue. Then, it became clear. We have moles in our back yard. Now we have a mole hunting dog, can life get any more perfect?????? Ms. Tami can garden; Mr. Otis can hunt moles and I can write this blog. Life is goodJ.
Consistency with Guests: My daughter, her significant other, their five-year-old English bulldog Cooper and 8-year-old hound Mo are coming next week for thanks giving. Ms. Tami laid down the law. We meet at the park and let the dogs get to know each other. Otis has rules of how we all must interact with him. The rules are posted on every entryway to the house and in the kitchen. Cooper lived with Tami and I for a chunk of his life but is my daughters dog. He is well natured and mostly calm except when he see us again after a long time away. Now, we know how to handle that. My hopes and our preparation is to insure success. I know that will be the result. Dogs have their own system and know a puppy when they see one. As is my theme for the blog, Training is training.