Clicker Training. Potty Training. Jumping. Barking. Retractable Leashes. Harness Not Collar. Apollo 12. Bombing 1940. Hard Water Stains.

 

For Mammal Monday, let's do some dog training:

DON'T Wait until the dog is six months old to start obedience training.

DON'T use choke chains or collars. (see below) 
DON'T use force or pressure to get the dog to do obedience.
DON'T set the dog up for failure instead of success.

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"Some people aren't good at controlling their voice pitches therefore the clicker is superior as it ALWAYS sounds the same."

 

 

 

 

 

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Jumping:

"I was talking to a nice lady and her lab when she said, "You seem to know a lot about dogs."  I told her that I train dogs for a living and her eyes lit up like a pinball machine and she immediately said, "Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Sure" I replied and then listened for about ten minutes
as she told me how terrible her dog is when it comes
to jumping.  She informed me that she has been to three different trainers, has read a few dog training books, watches
the "TV Experts" and nothing works.

This is when I started to dig a little deeper.  I asked if she lives with anyone else. She said that she lives with her boyfriend.
I then asked how he greets her dog. She said that he LOVES her dog and comes home every night to wrestle and play. He always has the dog jump up to greet so he can give him a big bear hug.

She did not like what I said next. I told her that the boyfriend was the reason for the behavior. That if she wanted the jumping to stop the boyfriend would have to change his greeting. She interjected that she could never do that, that she loves watching the two of them when he comes home.

I just smiled and said best of luck and continued on my way.
The BIG Behavior Problem that no one talks about is the human in the relationship.
It is unfortunate, but the dog is often blamed for bad behavior when the owner has taught and repeatedly reinforced certain behaviors like jumping.
I know that this is not popular, and some may not like hearing this, but if you want great dog training results you have to first examine your behavior towards your dog."  Eric Letendre.

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Barking:

"My wife's cousin brought her little Chihuahua mix along for the vacation and this little guy has a problem that many dog owners have to deal with.   Barking.
He barks at just about anyone that moves or walks by. He is a nice little guy, just a little nervous and fearful.
Over the years, I have dealt with a lot of problem barkers and have had to use many different techniques to stop the barking.

One trick that I have used for years is teaching the dog to actually bark on command. Once I have the dog barking on command I then teach the dog to be quiet on command.

Here is how it is done:
1. Teach your dog to "Speak" by having someone knock on the door.
2. Once your dog starts to bark start saying, "Speak".
3. Repeat this for a few days (sometimes less) and reward your dog with a treat every time your dog barks.
4. Once you can say "Speak" and have your dog bark, he has learned the command.
Now comes the good part. If your dog can learn to bark on command, your dog can also learn the word "Quiet" on
command.
Give your dog the command to speak, and once your dog starts to bark, keep repeating the command until your dog continues to bark.
As your dog is barking, firmly give the command, "Quiet," or "Shush", and wait for your dog to stop. Once your dog stops barking, reward with the treat.
If you practice this, you will be able to turn on and turn
off the barking. It's pretty cool when this happens."  Eric.

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WARNING - Popular Leash That Can Amputate Your Finger

"Last week I met with a new dog training client and was scared out of my wits.  It wasn't the dog, it wasn't the owners, it wasn't any of the behavior problems we discussed.   It was the leash.

The dog was a big, strong lab that loved chasing squirrels, birds, chipmunks, bikes, leaves on the ground, you name it.
Once this fun loving, excitable dog saw something move, his tail would immediately start wagging as he quickly shifted from 1st to 4th gear to run after anything that moved.  The leash was a flimsy retractable leash with a thin cord.

I informed the owner that we needed to get another leash for training and then something amazing happened.  She flatly refused to change leashes. She said that the retractable is the leash she wanted to train on.

I explained that retractable leashes are very difficult to work with in a training situation. I added that teaching a dog to walk on leash without pulling is very hard with a retractable leash.
She still refused to switch.  That's when I pulled out the big guns. I informed her that she can get injured, that retractable leashes have actually amputated fingers.

She did not believe me until we went inside and I showed her all the stories on her computer. It was then that she allowed me to put a six foot leash on her dog. I showed her how to properly hold the leash and how to quickly get control over her dog with the right grip and leash.
Retractable leashes make training difficult and can injure you if you're not careful.      Good luck!"     Eric Letendre.

"P.S. If your dog pulls on leash and you would like to train
your dog to walk politely at your side check out:
http://ultimatedogblog.com/online-dog-training-course"

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Surprising Connection Between Pet Collars and Seizures

"Cervical subluxation can also cause seizures, and this is something many pet owners don’t realize. I see this type of seizure a lot in dogs that are chained outside.

They run out the length of their chain chasing after a bunny, and when the chain snaps back against the neck it causes a high cervical traumatic injury of either the C1 vertebrae (the atlas) or C2, the axis.

The C1 is the first cervical vertebrae in animals, and it articulates with the brain stem. When there is increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure in the brain stem, it can lead to a seizure.

I recommend you harness your pet not only for walks, but also if he’s ever chained out. It’s important your pet is not able to increase pressure on the neck, because high cervical subluxations and other chiropractic issues in the neck can caused an increased likelihood of seizures."

From: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/02/22/pet-seizures-and-pet-dog-cat-food-diet.aspx

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 Poor Dog!

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On This day:

Apollo 12 lifts off, Nov 14, 1969:

"Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the moon, is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr.; Richard F. Gordon, Jr.; and Alan L. Bean aboard. President Richard Nixon viewed the liftoff from Pad A at Cape Canaveral. He was the first president to attend the liftoff of a manned space flight.

Thirty-six seconds after takeoff, lightning struck the ascending Saturn 5 launch rocket, which tripped the circuit breakers in the command module and caused a power failure. Fortunately, the launching rocket continued up normally, and within a few minutes power was restored in the spacecraft.

On November 19, the landing module Intrepid made a precision landing on the northwest rim of the moon's Ocean of Storms. About five hours later, astronauts Conrad and Bean became the third and fourth humans to walk on the surface of the moon. During the next 32 hours, the two astronauts made two lunar walks, where they collected lunar samples and investigated the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, an unmanned U.S. probe that soft-landed on the moon in 1967. On November 24, Apollo 12 successfully returned to Earth, splashing down only three miles from one of its retrieval ships, the USS Hornet."

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Battle of Britain and the Blitz.

November 14-15, 1940, The Bombing of Coventry.

 

"The ancient Cathedral of Coventry was one of the landmark buildings destroyed. The shell of the building remains to this day as a memorial to the bombing."

"On the night of November 14-15, 1940, almost 500 German bombers attacked the British industrial city of Coventry in central England. The bombers dropped 150,000 incendiary bombs and more than 500 tons of high explosives. The air raid destroyed much of the city center, including 12 armament factories and the historic Saint Michael's Cathedral. This shows scenes from the aftermath of the attack. The bombing of Coventry came to symbolize, to Britain, the ruthlessness of modern air warfare."

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From me:  I was just a school girl in London during the Blitz, and it looked just like the above picture, too.    In the morning we would find out who of our classmates had been killed by the bombs the night before.  When the sirens went off we all crowded in shelters.  Just about everything, especially food, was rationed, and we didn't know that there was another way of living.

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Yesterday:

Maddie and Muffie were arriving about 10.30 AM to stay overnight, as their 'parents', (Jay, his mother, and their neighbor) were going gambling at Coushatta.

 

Ray's back was giving him sharp twinges, but he shuffled over here, so we could do 'time'.  That is when we add up the hours he has helped me, and take it off his rent and utilities.  After Ray had been sitting for a while, he had to go back home and lie down.  I am so glad that I got over my back injury years ago, even though I can't stay bent over for long.

He had more news about the car wreck the day before, and the young lad is still hanging in there, after a 9-hour surgery.  He was conscious for a short while but doesn't know his name, and the prognosis is not good. 

 

Muffie and Maddie arrived, but Maddie, the Yorkie, wouldn't stop barking at the foster kittens on the screen porch through the patio door's screen door.  She is smaller than they are, but she was in a Great Dane mode.  When I closed the glass door she quit hassling them, for a while. 

Then she spotted Prime, my other foster cat, sitting on the back of the recliner, and started barking at her, so I took her outside so that Prime could find another place to perch herself.

 

While I was out there, I checked the pile of pine needles that Jay had raked out of the aloe bed, and several little baby aloe plants had been uprooted and raked up too.  They seemed quite happy to be replanted in the nice new sandy soil, but my back wasn't too happy about bending over. 

 

I have to go out with Maddie, as she is so small that a hawk swooped down and picked her up about 18 months ago.  She proved too heavy for the hawk to fly off with her, but she still has the scars of it's beak on her side.   She wouldn't go outside alone for a long time after that.  I set Maddie up with a little doggie bed, but she would rather sit on my lap at the computer desk.  She is so spoiled by Jay and Claudia. 

 

Ray sometimes chews tobacco, and I was very embarrassed when he wanted to spit it out in my toilet.  Both my toilets have hard water stains which look terrible.  I had bought one of those Pumie sticks 18 months ago, but was afraid that it would scratch my china toilets.  I looked online, and it appeared that it wouldn't, so I got a-scrubbing. It took a little elbow grease, but now they look great.

Not only for health reasons, the animals water is out of my Brita jug, as I got so tired of the hard water stains in their water bowls.

 

Then I soaked some stained white clothes in Oxyclean, soap and 20-Mule Team Borax, on the low water setting in my washer.  When I checked on them an hour later, the stains had gone, so I let the machine fill up to large load and did the rest of the whites. 

 

So it was a lovely Autumn and 'cleaning tips' day.