 |
| Spencer makes a great pillow and gives great tummy rubs! |
 |
| Basketball Babe at 15 weeks! |
We've started working on the "give" command. Her preference is to play tug-of-war, but she's already caught my hand with her sharp little canines and that hurts! So the tug game needs to be on a command and we play when it's my decision, not hers.
So far Breeze has one habit that's getting on my nerves: rippping grass out by the roots. Just when I think she'll entertain herself with some toys while I get some work done in the house, I come out 5 minutes later to check on her and there's a bald spot in her puppy pen. I'm correcting her when I catch her in the act and I've been able to stop her from going back to the same area by dousing it with black pepper, but considering I just had my lawn redone earlier this year this behavior doesn't make me too happy. (Fortunately I don't use chemicals on my grass because it's really a yard for the dogs.) I just keeping telling myself that it'll grow back and this phase will pass... I guess I've learned my lesson; now when I can't supervise her she's going in an x-pen on the covered concrete patio!
I'm been impressed with my Tesla's (Michelle's April Kitty/Spy litter) ability to read body language. One night my cat got out and I was trying to catch him, but Tesla went tearing after him and I was tired and frustrated. I know better than to call a dog to me and then punish it, and if she had come to me I would have praised her, despite being angry, but Tess saw through it and wouldn't come to me. She ran off and hid in the tall weeds in my garden and I spent 30 minute trying to catch her. I hardly ever get angry about anything...I'm very patient, so I'm sure it freaked her out. I finally thought about the situation and realized I needed to change my body language and as soon as I took a more relaxed stance, she came right to me and accepted my apology for being mad and scaring her.
ReplyDeleteMy older border collie is also excellent at reading body language and tone of voice...I never yell, but I feel bad if I speak sternly to Tesla...even in a whisper...the border collie sometimes just doesn't understand its not him I'm trying to discipline.
While yours pulls up grass, mine has recently racked up some damage expenses she'd better work off...haha. I didn't know she chews on things in the back seat of the truck...she chewed the case of a library audio book and she chewed about halfway through the driver's (me) seatbelt. A new book was $20. A new seatbelt is $300+ plus installation (hoping to find one at a salvage yard). Seatbelt failure...I hope that doesn't happen. She also has chewed some cords behind the tv. I want to Tractor Supply and got some bitter stuff and the manager commented that HE trained his puppy not to chew things by taking her around the house, showing her items he didn't want chewed, shoving her nose in them, and spanking her for each item. Uh, that is NOT the way I will EVER train a dog...especially a sensitive one! I wish I hadn't heard that...makes me sad.