Garfield and Odie
Aunt Hilda
Mama Bear
Fred Flintstone
Aquaman
Roz
Babs
Old Cheetarah
Misses Ed
This started limited until I realized everyone I know around here fits a character. Maybe this will get edited later...
Monday, June 28, 2010
My House
I live in a gaggle of characters.
Garfield and Odie
Aunt Hilda
Mama Bear
Fred Flintstone
Aquaman
Roz
Babs
Old Cheetarah
Misses Ed
This started limited until I realized everyone I know around here fits a character. Maybe this will get edited later...
Garfield and Odie
Aunt Hilda
Mama Bear
Fred Flintstone
Aquaman
Roz
Babs
Old Cheetarah
Misses Ed
This started limited until I realized everyone I know around here fits a character. Maybe this will get edited later...
Pupster
I recently got a puppy, half corgi and half dachshund to be exact, and as custom of course I decided to start a blog about my days with him.
Today is Day Five
(originally written on 6-18-10)
He is now 9 weeks old as of yesterday; his training currently consists of not biting or chewing, living with cats, anxiety issues, and only going potty outside.
Surprising, only the cats part has had true success....
So I guess I will walk through his training with you!
Feel free to tell me if I am completely terrorizing my puppy instead of making progress!!
Chewing
Okay, so this is what I am not really getting far on. What we have been doing is if he chews on something (or really anything bad) we use a sharp through noise sounding kind of like "EH EH EH EH" somewhat loudly and gets his attention and sometimes it is followed with "NO" which I've heard some people try to stay away from using that word.
This will be followed by handing him something he can chew on, like his toys, a box of newspapers I have from packing, a stick we found at the beach. I read somewhere not to give him bones because the fragments can break off and hurt his insides and I am guessing the stick may be an issue too.... But he loves his driftwood stick and I couldn't imagine taking it away from him.
Biting
Similar to the chewing treatment, he gets the sharp throat noise, and sometimes the "no" word, and is given a better option.
Nearly always his biting is play, and were he older with less sharp teeth, it might even be acceptable because he is not biting hard. But because he is young and his teeth are that of a pterodactyl, he is not being allowed to play bite.
We are having trouble with the attack of flailing pant legs, shoes laces, and buttons like on sweaters. We try the sharp throat noise and a no, and it's getting the point I give him a light tap on the side of the mouth, snap my fingers and point at him and add "KNOCK IT OFF" which seems to get the point across better than just the regular verbal.
My problems with this is that I've read many places to never strike your pet and I really hate it but I also hate all the puncture wounds I'm getting...
BTW - this is honestly a light tap. And not just me trying to make myself feel better for possibly being abusive but really like less than you would slugbug hit your grandma, okay? I mean light. No sound is made, and it's not a force that hits him off a pant leg or anything, I really want to make that clear that it's just a tap. I pat him rougher when giving affection than this disciplinary action. (No, that doesn't mean I whack my dog with love. lol)
I am really open to better suggestions!!
Cats
Many of my research quests suggested taking a long time before introducing these two types of pets, waiting until you are completely in control of this dog before you introduce the two.
However, my cat decided differently.
This is Buddy, a 20some pound tuxedo cat who is like a mini dog - loves belly rubs, drools, comes when calls with a couple slaps on your hip, and completely friendly and social.
He decided that he wasn't ready to give up his favorite sleeping spot and walked in on Gordon and me. This cat is at least twice the size of my little puppy and was not intimidated by anything but a weird smell. Gordon, on the other hand, played the card of a coward, sitting in my lap.
They smelled each other's noses, Buddy checked out his crate, his bed, and tasted Gordon's food. Then had a couple more tastes until I snapped at him and which he turned around and glared. Since this meeting, Gordon has been trying to get Buddy to play, where as Buddy is more of an eat and get attention sort of cat, and finally today Buddy took a smack at him. There's no physical harm done, and I realized we now have nearly a complete Garfield set-up at my house.
Note that it took Buddy 4 days of being chased a bit, barked at, pushed to initiate play, and the loss of an entire bedroom to roam until he struck back. And Gordon is still pretty happy-go-lucky.
Anxiety Issues
As we continue with a new pet, we're realizing Gordon doesn't like to be alone. He cries and yowls and sometimes growls at being left alone even for moments.
Right now he does have a kennel to sleep in which is in my room at the foot of the bed until he is potty trained. This is where he stays while I am at work for no more than 4 hours or out of my room for more than 10 minutes since I do not completely trust him not to chew things, although my room is pretty much all puppy-proofed he still gets stuck in certain areas.
The problem we have is the crying. We do practice runs a couple times a day where he stays in there to calm down or just relax and he can come out after a few moments of silence (although if he falls asleep he stays so he can get more used to sleeping in there.
That's as far as we've gotten.
At night I've found it a lot easier for him to fall asleep on my lap while I'm at the computer (I go on easiest in the evening) and when he's out I lay him down in the kennel. He even wakes up as I do this but is too tired to care.
In the mornings (he wakes me up before daybreak to go potty) he gets to come back and sleep in my bed until I officially get up. This has been okay so far, minus the initial 10 minutes it takes him to calm down.
Music
Every day I have been playing music on my stereo. I heard that it helps for when I'm gone if he listens to the same voice everyday and I chose a Postal Service/Death Cab for Cutie playlist to play nearly 24 hours a day. Sometimes song changes startle him but not too terribly.
Today I wanted to listen to Metro Station and I noticed a severe change in his personality - he was more aggressive and wound up, and within moments of changing it tonight to Ben Gibbard's lovely voice he chilled and has wanted to cuddle.
I thought that was intriguing.
That's All, Folks!
I will try to keep this updated. I sincerely hope for feedback, understanding there may be a lot of negative, on how I am raising my pup.
Please, share your thoughts!!!
Today is Day Five
(originally written on 6-18-10)
He is now 9 weeks old as of yesterday; his training currently consists of not biting or chewing, living with cats, anxiety issues, and only going potty outside.
Surprising, only the cats part has had true success....
So I guess I will walk through his training with you!
Feel free to tell me if I am completely terrorizing my puppy instead of making progress!!
Chewing
Okay, so this is what I am not really getting far on. What we have been doing is if he chews on something (or really anything bad) we use a sharp through noise sounding kind of like "EH EH EH EH" somewhat loudly and gets his attention and sometimes it is followed with "NO" which I've heard some people try to stay away from using that word.
This will be followed by handing him something he can chew on, like his toys, a box of newspapers I have from packing, a stick we found at the beach. I read somewhere not to give him bones because the fragments can break off and hurt his insides and I am guessing the stick may be an issue too.... But he loves his driftwood stick and I couldn't imagine taking it away from him.
Biting
Similar to the chewing treatment, he gets the sharp throat noise, and sometimes the "no" word, and is given a better option.
Nearly always his biting is play, and were he older with less sharp teeth, it might even be acceptable because he is not biting hard. But because he is young and his teeth are that of a pterodactyl, he is not being allowed to play bite.
We are having trouble with the attack of flailing pant legs, shoes laces, and buttons like on sweaters. We try the sharp throat noise and a no, and it's getting the point I give him a light tap on the side of the mouth, snap my fingers and point at him and add "KNOCK IT OFF" which seems to get the point across better than just the regular verbal.
My problems with this is that I've read many places to never strike your pet and I really hate it but I also hate all the puncture wounds I'm getting...
BTW - this is honestly a light tap. And not just me trying to make myself feel better for possibly being abusive but really like less than you would slugbug hit your grandma, okay? I mean light. No sound is made, and it's not a force that hits him off a pant leg or anything, I really want to make that clear that it's just a tap. I pat him rougher when giving affection than this disciplinary action. (No, that doesn't mean I whack my dog with love. lol)
I am really open to better suggestions!!
Cats
Many of my research quests suggested taking a long time before introducing these two types of pets, waiting until you are completely in control of this dog before you introduce the two.
However, my cat decided differently.
This is Buddy, a 20some pound tuxedo cat who is like a mini dog - loves belly rubs, drools, comes when calls with a couple slaps on your hip, and completely friendly and social.
He decided that he wasn't ready to give up his favorite sleeping spot and walked in on Gordon and me. This cat is at least twice the size of my little puppy and was not intimidated by anything but a weird smell. Gordon, on the other hand, played the card of a coward, sitting in my lap.
They smelled each other's noses, Buddy checked out his crate, his bed, and tasted Gordon's food. Then had a couple more tastes until I snapped at him and which he turned around and glared. Since this meeting, Gordon has been trying to get Buddy to play, where as Buddy is more of an eat and get attention sort of cat, and finally today Buddy took a smack at him. There's no physical harm done, and I realized we now have nearly a complete Garfield set-up at my house.
Note that it took Buddy 4 days of being chased a bit, barked at, pushed to initiate play, and the loss of an entire bedroom to roam until he struck back. And Gordon is still pretty happy-go-lucky.
Anxiety Issues
As we continue with a new pet, we're realizing Gordon doesn't like to be alone. He cries and yowls and sometimes growls at being left alone even for moments.
Right now he does have a kennel to sleep in which is in my room at the foot of the bed until he is potty trained. This is where he stays while I am at work for no more than 4 hours or out of my room for more than 10 minutes since I do not completely trust him not to chew things, although my room is pretty much all puppy-proofed he still gets stuck in certain areas.
The problem we have is the crying. We do practice runs a couple times a day where he stays in there to calm down or just relax and he can come out after a few moments of silence (although if he falls asleep he stays so he can get more used to sleeping in there.
That's as far as we've gotten.
At night I've found it a lot easier for him to fall asleep on my lap while I'm at the computer (I go on easiest in the evening) and when he's out I lay him down in the kennel. He even wakes up as I do this but is too tired to care.
In the mornings (he wakes me up before daybreak to go potty) he gets to come back and sleep in my bed until I officially get up. This has been okay so far, minus the initial 10 minutes it takes him to calm down.
Music
Every day I have been playing music on my stereo. I heard that it helps for when I'm gone if he listens to the same voice everyday and I chose a Postal Service/Death Cab for Cutie playlist to play nearly 24 hours a day. Sometimes song changes startle him but not too terribly.
Today I wanted to listen to Metro Station and I noticed a severe change in his personality - he was more aggressive and wound up, and within moments of changing it tonight to Ben Gibbard's lovely voice he chilled and has wanted to cuddle.
I thought that was intriguing.
That's All, Folks!
I will try to keep this updated. I sincerely hope for feedback, understanding there may be a lot of negative, on how I am raising my pup.
Please, share your thoughts!!!
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