We had 3 dogs, the father, the mother and the puppy. In the past we have had problems with
neighbor dogs coming into our yard. So
we have a 4’ fence to keep them out.
This winter's snow created a “bridge to freedom” for our dogs. They
found they were able to walk right out of the yard on the snow. When they got out, we would see them, call
them, and they would come running.
Recently a neighbor’s barn cat decided to come into our yard. The holes in the fence are large enough for a
cat but not a dog. Our dogs have a high
‘prey drive’ which causes them to hunt.
They went after the cat. The cat
ran for home and the dogs followed. We called them but they ignored us. Because
of the cat, they were in a hunting frenzy.
They got the cat and were trying to kill it. The farmer saw the dogs and shot the
mother. The bullet passed through her
and entered the pup. The mother was
killed instantly. The pup has over $700
worth of vet bills so far, and the bullet is still lodged in his shoulder. He misses his mom. He looks for her whenever
someone comes in the door. Now we will
put up a 6’ fence. That still won’t keep
other animals out of our yard. Please
watch your animals. Please try to keep
them on your own property.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Test day
Test day is tomorrow. We will see how far Dena has come and the other dogs too.
Jim had Dena tested for Canine Good Citizen last fall and she failed miserably.
I took her to Petco to train a little this afternoon. Those aisles are wonderful for making straight sits. As always, in a pet store, she nearly had a nervous breakdown. We heeled up and down the aisles and sit/stayed and plotzed until I could take no more.
I will keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow.
March 23 was our test. Dena did as well as could be expected. Last year she took the Canine Good Citizenship test and she failed. She failed because she was overly concerned when she was left alone for 3 minutes which is the final task. This year she passed. She was not happy to have me leave her but she didn't make a huge deal about it. Way to go Dena!
This is the end of the training blog. I will continue working with Dena and of course Jim will continue to train Dopple. If there are more classes, I will return to posting.
Jim had Dena tested for Canine Good Citizen last fall and she failed miserably.
I took her to Petco to train a little this afternoon. Those aisles are wonderful for making straight sits. As always, in a pet store, she nearly had a nervous breakdown. We heeled up and down the aisles and sit/stayed and plotzed until I could take no more.
I will keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow.
March 23 was our test. Dena did as well as could be expected. Last year she took the Canine Good Citizenship test and she failed. She failed because she was overly concerned when she was left alone for 3 minutes which is the final task. This year she passed. She was not happy to have me leave her but she didn't make a huge deal about it. Way to go Dena!
This is the end of the training blog. I will continue working with Dena and of course Jim will continue to train Dopple. If there are more classes, I will return to posting.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Dena training continued
The previous Dena post was getting very long.
3/5 I took all three dogs out together for a walk. The only training that could be done was sit/stays since it is impossible to heel 3 dogs at once. I felt like a doggie kindergarten teacher. I put them all on a sit/sat and took a couple of steps back. Dena and Dopple both got up 3 times. Of course Kingsy sat and watched the entire debacle without moving. Finally I stood right in front of them for a few seconds and then released them so they could have some success.
3/6 Dena and I trained in the street for a little bit. She gets huggier the longer we train. Her plotz doesn't always get her elbows to the ground. That is hard to correct as she is mostly down and then jumps right up. When she and I finished I took her and Dopple out again for some doggie kindergarten work as Jimmy injured himself and still isn't walking well. Again the two of them broke the sit/stay 3 times. Then I stood over them and they had success. They both walked real nicely on the leashes with their pinch collars. That is a huge improvement since we began training.
3/9 We had plotz school today. We stayed inside and I used Kingsy as an example. I took a handful of treats and told Kingsy to plotz. He did. I gave him a treat. I told Dena to plotz. She ignored me. I turned to Kingsy and told him to plotz. He did. I gave him a treat. It took 4 treats before Dena figured out that I wasn't going to give her a treat, or push her down, or put the treat on the floor. If she didn't plotz of her own free will then I was just going to work with Kingsy. The first time she plotzed after I turned my back on her to work with Kingsy. The second time she plotzed much more quickly. Would she plotz without the collar or a treat? I doubt it. However, I still see this as progress.
3/10 Lois has been away for a while. She tells me she is amazed with Dena's better behavior. Dena is upset to have Lois home and is extra growly and bitchy at night.
3/11 I had the luck of having Lois to step on Dena and Dopple's leashes during the sit/stay and so I only had to correct them once.
3/12 I was hoping for an excellent day for training. It is the first time we have had all 3 dogs and their owners together in such a long time. We all went off for a walk together. Kingsy was being very good. Dena and Dopple were acting up. I took Dena and began to work with her. I got angry then because Jim did not appear to be happy to train Dopple. He was punishing more than praising so I left the group and trained on my own. Dena was compliant and good. It would have been nice to have the other dogs for distraction.
3/13 Today I took Dena for short training in the street after her walk. She sat, plotzed and heeled. Her heels were sloppy and her sits at the end were sideways. She is much happier to train than before so I don't bother to correct her.
3/16 Plotzkreig - that is what we have now with Dena. Each nicht all the dogs line up for treats. Kingsy plotz! and he does it. Dopple plotz! and he does it. Dena plotz! She looks at me like she doesn't have a clue. I turn my back on her and start to work with Kingsy and she lays down. She waits till my back is turned. What weirdness is this?
3/19 We did a small amount of training in the street. Dena lags in heeling whenever she receives praise. She will be heeling well, I praise her, she falls behind or once she charged ahead. That was because the driveway was coming into view and I believe she was making a break for it. Today the plotzs were ignored both inside and outside. I had to correct her with the collar for failure to plotz. We have reached an impasse.
3/5 I took all three dogs out together for a walk. The only training that could be done was sit/stays since it is impossible to heel 3 dogs at once. I felt like a doggie kindergarten teacher. I put them all on a sit/sat and took a couple of steps back. Dena and Dopple both got up 3 times. Of course Kingsy sat and watched the entire debacle without moving. Finally I stood right in front of them for a few seconds and then released them so they could have some success.
3/6 Dena and I trained in the street for a little bit. She gets huggier the longer we train. Her plotz doesn't always get her elbows to the ground. That is hard to correct as she is mostly down and then jumps right up. When she and I finished I took her and Dopple out again for some doggie kindergarten work as Jimmy injured himself and still isn't walking well. Again the two of them broke the sit/stay 3 times. Then I stood over them and they had success. They both walked real nicely on the leashes with their pinch collars. That is a huge improvement since we began training.
3/9 We had plotz school today. We stayed inside and I used Kingsy as an example. I took a handful of treats and told Kingsy to plotz. He did. I gave him a treat. I told Dena to plotz. She ignored me. I turned to Kingsy and told him to plotz. He did. I gave him a treat. It took 4 treats before Dena figured out that I wasn't going to give her a treat, or push her down, or put the treat on the floor. If she didn't plotz of her own free will then I was just going to work with Kingsy. The first time she plotzed after I turned my back on her to work with Kingsy. The second time she plotzed much more quickly. Would she plotz without the collar or a treat? I doubt it. However, I still see this as progress.
3/10 Lois has been away for a while. She tells me she is amazed with Dena's better behavior. Dena is upset to have Lois home and is extra growly and bitchy at night.
3/11 I had the luck of having Lois to step on Dena and Dopple's leashes during the sit/stay and so I only had to correct them once.
3/12 I was hoping for an excellent day for training. It is the first time we have had all 3 dogs and their owners together in such a long time. We all went off for a walk together. Kingsy was being very good. Dena and Dopple were acting up. I took Dena and began to work with her. I got angry then because Jim did not appear to be happy to train Dopple. He was punishing more than praising so I left the group and trained on my own. Dena was compliant and good. It would have been nice to have the other dogs for distraction.
3/13 Today I took Dena for short training in the street after her walk. She sat, plotzed and heeled. Her heels were sloppy and her sits at the end were sideways. She is much happier to train than before so I don't bother to correct her.
3/16 Plotzkreig - that is what we have now with Dena. Each nicht all the dogs line up for treats. Kingsy plotz! and he does it. Dopple plotz! and he does it. Dena plotz! She looks at me like she doesn't have a clue. I turn my back on her and start to work with Kingsy and she lays down. She waits till my back is turned. What weirdness is this?
3/19 We did a small amount of training in the street. Dena lags in heeling whenever she receives praise. She will be heeling well, I praise her, she falls behind or once she charged ahead. That was because the driveway was coming into view and I believe she was making a break for it. Today the plotzs were ignored both inside and outside. I had to correct her with the collar for failure to plotz. We have reached an impasse.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Time to Train
It has been 7 months since the pups were born. It is time to begin training. I have kept in touch with 4 of the 5 puppies. The one we have here is beginning to learn bad habits from his mother. It is time to begin school.
The class began in the middle of January. We took our pup and the mother. We are looking for 2 different results from the same class for the two different dogs. The puppy needs to get basic obedience training so he will be ready for 4H training and the show this summer. The mother needs to learn to be a happy, well adjusted dog.
To keep this blog succinct and interesting I am now going to create pages for each dog and invite the trainers and our instructor Kathy to write. I think this will be a good way to demonstrate the positive power of quality dog training.
The class began in the middle of January. We took our pup and the mother. We are looking for 2 different results from the same class for the two different dogs. The puppy needs to get basic obedience training so he will be ready for 4H training and the show this summer. The mother needs to learn to be a happy, well adjusted dog.
To keep this blog succinct and interesting I am now going to create pages for each dog and invite the trainers and our instructor Kathy to write. I think this will be a good way to demonstrate the positive power of quality dog training.
Dena
Dena is the older female dog. She is the mother of the puppies.
We have been training for about 4 weeks. So far I have learned that:
1. She knows her commands in German
2. She isn't happy to do what she is supposed to do.
3. She displays passive/aggressive behaviors when she is asked to do training exercises.
It occurred to me that I should describe the training routine.
On Tuesday and Thursday, Dena and I take a 2 mile walk on her 6 foot leash. During the walk I am interested in making sure she is paying attention to me for the most part. At various parts we stop and do sits, sit stays and sometimes we heel for a little while. There are 2 properties along the route where there are a lot of squirrels. At those places I work to help her concentrate dispite the distractions.
All the other days of the week we go out to specifically practice the tasks from class. We probably spend 15-20 minutes. Dena heels up and down in front of the house running and walking. She does her sit stays and recalls. The other dogs are locked in the house. They get in the way if we are training in the yard and if we are outside the yard I am afraid they will try to jump the fence. On these other days Dena gets a 2 mile walk on the "marital" leash with Kingsy.
2/15 Today was a training day. In the class Dena heeled ok, sat ok but needed correction for laying. I was advised to be happier when she does as she is told.
2/16 We trained outside and Dena had to be corrected for plotz every time except the final try. When she actually laid down without correction I figured that was good. Then later at night I asked her to plotz for a treat and she refused.
2/18 After the debacle of Sunday, I skipped Monday training except for a couple of sit-stays. Today was the walk. We walked for a while. Some squirrels distracted Dena but I corrected her and she paid attention to me after that. Toward the 1 mile mark we did some heeling. She wasn't real happy about it. We did sit stays after that and she seemed resentful. I had treats and gave her one after the sit-stays. We walked for a bit then did plotz. I had to correct her 3 times before she would do it. I gave her a treat. We went home. Near the end we did a couple more sit-stays and some heeling.
2/19 We did short training exercises. A little running heeling and some sit stays. No plotz as she really hates those.
2/20 Good thing for the walk or I wouldn't have trained or gone outside at all. What horrible weather. We mostly just walked with Dena paying attention to me enough to keep me from changing directions. The 6 inches of slush and ice probably did more to keep me from changing directions than anything. We did heel running for a bit. At home we tried to plotz. I had to correct her every time. I brought Kingsy out to plotz as an example. She still wouldn't do it without correction. Finally she did plotz once very begrudgingly. I praised the daylights out of her and we were done.
2/21 I thought the weather yesterday was bad. Today there was no walk as we'd have been killed if a car was on the street. So training consisted of some heeling in the house ending in sits and two ploz commands. The first one she ignored and the second one she complied grudgingly. I praised her profusely.
2/22 Dena and I went to Petsmart today. We spent about 1/2 and hour just messing around, talking to people, letting people pet Dena. We heeled up and down the aisles, sit stayed and plotzed many, many times. Dena now crawls onto my feet when she has to plotz. She did it though. When we got close to the door she bolted and tried to escape. So I went back into the bowels of the store for another 10 or so minutes. We were there so long, the staff was starting to follow us. All in all it was a great success!
So I took Sunday off.
2/24 Dena and I trained in the street today for a little bit. She has taken to jumping on me whenever she is released from anything. She plotzed without a fight which was nice but she broke a sit -stay and I had to put her back. Of course the only reason she is doing any of this is because she is wearing the pinch collar. Without it, she wouldn't do anything.
2/25 OK we have reached an impasse. Or maybe I mean imp-ass as that is what Dena is behaving like. Every release from any command means that she stands on her hind legs and hugs me. Every command needs to be corrected. She is trying to wear me down. We went out today. We walked about 1 mile. I stopped and we did a sit stay, which she broke. I put her back. She stayed. I made her plotz. She had to be corrected in order to put her elbows down. I had her heel. As soon as we stopped she put her butt down sideways and then leaped up and hugged me. I thought she was going to try and put her front paws around my neck and her back feet in my pants pockets. She was bouncing on her back legs and hugging me with her front legs, almost like she was humping me standing up. What the heck do I even do with that?
2/26 Did a small amount of training, some sits and plotz and a little heel with treats. After she figured out I had food she complied
2/27 Took Dena and Dopple together on their training leashes today. Had them both sit - stay. Tried to call Dopple only, but Dena came too so gave up and just called "doggies". Final sit/stay was in the yard so I could bring in the recycle bin. They both broke multiple times and I put them back each time. Finally, so they could have success, I put them on the sit/stay and just stood over them for a couple of seconds and then released them.
2/28 Dena did sit/stay in the yard without her training collar on. She was alone with me when I was doing chores. It wasn't a long sit/stay but it was something. When released she did that standing hump me thing again.
March 1 - We had a great class today. Dena did fairly well or at least she complied with all the requests and didn't make too much of a big deal of it. She was uber weird at night. She sat on the couch with her head on my lap and growled and snarled at anyone, including Dopple who tried to get near me. I hollered at her but wasn't really sure what to do.
3/2 We trained in the road today. Dena had some sloppy heeling but she sat and plotzed well. She held her sit stay for as long as I required. She likes to jump right up after she sits after a heel and hug me with her front feet. I really don't know if this is love or control she is exhibiting.
3/3 All good except for broken sit/stays.
3/4 Took a long walk. All went well except for broken sit/stays. Plotz is fine now and there is less jumping on me.
3/5 Again all good except for broken sit/stays.
Please see the page Dena training continued for more training with Dena.
We have been training for about 4 weeks. So far I have learned that:
1. She knows her commands in German
2. She isn't happy to do what she is supposed to do.
3. She displays passive/aggressive behaviors when she is asked to do training exercises.
It occurred to me that I should describe the training routine.
On Tuesday and Thursday, Dena and I take a 2 mile walk on her 6 foot leash. During the walk I am interested in making sure she is paying attention to me for the most part. At various parts we stop and do sits, sit stays and sometimes we heel for a little while. There are 2 properties along the route where there are a lot of squirrels. At those places I work to help her concentrate dispite the distractions.
All the other days of the week we go out to specifically practice the tasks from class. We probably spend 15-20 minutes. Dena heels up and down in front of the house running and walking. She does her sit stays and recalls. The other dogs are locked in the house. They get in the way if we are training in the yard and if we are outside the yard I am afraid they will try to jump the fence. On these other days Dena gets a 2 mile walk on the "marital" leash with Kingsy.
2/15 Today was a training day. In the class Dena heeled ok, sat ok but needed correction for laying. I was advised to be happier when she does as she is told.
2/16 We trained outside and Dena had to be corrected for plotz every time except the final try. When she actually laid down without correction I figured that was good. Then later at night I asked her to plotz for a treat and she refused.
2/18 After the debacle of Sunday, I skipped Monday training except for a couple of sit-stays. Today was the walk. We walked for a while. Some squirrels distracted Dena but I corrected her and she paid attention to me after that. Toward the 1 mile mark we did some heeling. She wasn't real happy about it. We did sit stays after that and she seemed resentful. I had treats and gave her one after the sit-stays. We walked for a bit then did plotz. I had to correct her 3 times before she would do it. I gave her a treat. We went home. Near the end we did a couple more sit-stays and some heeling.
2/19 We did short training exercises. A little running heeling and some sit stays. No plotz as she really hates those.
2/20 Good thing for the walk or I wouldn't have trained or gone outside at all. What horrible weather. We mostly just walked with Dena paying attention to me enough to keep me from changing directions. The 6 inches of slush and ice probably did more to keep me from changing directions than anything. We did heel running for a bit. At home we tried to plotz. I had to correct her every time. I brought Kingsy out to plotz as an example. She still wouldn't do it without correction. Finally she did plotz once very begrudgingly. I praised the daylights out of her and we were done.
2/21 I thought the weather yesterday was bad. Today there was no walk as we'd have been killed if a car was on the street. So training consisted of some heeling in the house ending in sits and two ploz commands. The first one she ignored and the second one she complied grudgingly. I praised her profusely.
2/22 Dena and I went to Petsmart today. We spent about 1/2 and hour just messing around, talking to people, letting people pet Dena. We heeled up and down the aisles, sit stayed and plotzed many, many times. Dena now crawls onto my feet when she has to plotz. She did it though. When we got close to the door she bolted and tried to escape. So I went back into the bowels of the store for another 10 or so minutes. We were there so long, the staff was starting to follow us. All in all it was a great success!
So I took Sunday off.
2/24 Dena and I trained in the street today for a little bit. She has taken to jumping on me whenever she is released from anything. She plotzed without a fight which was nice but she broke a sit -stay and I had to put her back. Of course the only reason she is doing any of this is because she is wearing the pinch collar. Without it, she wouldn't do anything.
2/25 OK we have reached an impasse. Or maybe I mean imp-ass as that is what Dena is behaving like. Every release from any command means that she stands on her hind legs and hugs me. Every command needs to be corrected. She is trying to wear me down. We went out today. We walked about 1 mile. I stopped and we did a sit stay, which she broke. I put her back. She stayed. I made her plotz. She had to be corrected in order to put her elbows down. I had her heel. As soon as we stopped she put her butt down sideways and then leaped up and hugged me. I thought she was going to try and put her front paws around my neck and her back feet in my pants pockets. She was bouncing on her back legs and hugging me with her front legs, almost like she was humping me standing up. What the heck do I even do with that?
2/26 Did a small amount of training, some sits and plotz and a little heel with treats. After she figured out I had food she complied
2/27 Took Dena and Dopple together on their training leashes today. Had them both sit - stay. Tried to call Dopple only, but Dena came too so gave up and just called "doggies". Final sit/stay was in the yard so I could bring in the recycle bin. They both broke multiple times and I put them back each time. Finally, so they could have success, I put them on the sit/stay and just stood over them for a couple of seconds and then released them.
2/28 Dena did sit/stay in the yard without her training collar on. She was alone with me when I was doing chores. It wasn't a long sit/stay but it was something. When released she did that standing hump me thing again.
March 1 - We had a great class today. Dena did fairly well or at least she complied with all the requests and didn't make too much of a big deal of it. She was uber weird at night. She sat on the couch with her head on my lap and growled and snarled at anyone, including Dopple who tried to get near me. I hollered at her but wasn't really sure what to do.
3/2 We trained in the road today. Dena had some sloppy heeling but she sat and plotzed well. She held her sit stay for as long as I required. She likes to jump right up after she sits after a heel and hug me with her front feet. I really don't know if this is love or control she is exhibiting.
3/3 All good except for broken sit/stays.
3/4 Took a long walk. All went well except for broken sit/stays. Plotz is fine now and there is less jumping on me.
3/5 Again all good except for broken sit/stays.
Please see the page Dena training continued for more training with Dena.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Pups
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The puppies were a lot of fun to raise. They played and frolicked. We loved them more each day. It was an awesome responsibility to find them all good homes. I think we did ok. The first puppy to leave went to live at a farm. We called him Bismark but he is now called Mose. His owner is a gentle girl who loves animals. I was happy to meet her. Next two of the puppies went to the same home. They will be heard from again in future posts as they are in training with us now. The last puppy to leave was the female. She went to a house where there is an 8 year old GSD. Her family likes to get a pup when their dog is getting older. I met the older dog. She was well trained and happy..JPG)
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Sunday, February 9, 2014
A Good Opportunity?
The story doesn't end with a successful prizewinning dog. When you have a dog who is so good and so obedient as King, you want to breed him. So when Judy from Kavanaugh Shepherds contacted me and told me that she had a female GSD looking for a good home I was elated. As I said before, Judy is a good breeder, the kind who takes responsibility for her dogs from birth to death. This particular female has issues. In my desire to breed King, I forgot about my vow to never take on a problem dog again. Judy brought Dena to our house.
Dena really loved Judy. For the first 3 days we had to keep a rope on her, even in the house because she was trying desperately to get back to her previous home. Our boy, Jim would sit in the yard with the rope tied around his leg while Dena threw herself at the end of the rope trying to get away. After a period of time, she began to accept our home as hers. She decided that I was her primary person and Jim was her secondary person. She despised my husband. She growled at him, she snarled at him, and she lunged at him. She was particularly upset whenever he got near me. This went on for months. He developed an attitude problem toward her also of course. We became concerned when, one day, she nipped at him. I notified Judy and she prepared to come and remove Dena from our home. As a last resort, Jim called Kathy. Once again, she understood the problem, gave us the necessary advice and we were able to defuse that situation.
However, Dena continued to be a naughty dog. She didn't come when she was called. She counter surfed and garbage picked. In 4H Jim trained her in Showmanship not Obedience because the demands on the dog are minimal. She didn't win. Nevertheless I permitted her to breed with King.
Dena really loved Judy. For the first 3 days we had to keep a rope on her, even in the house because she was trying desperately to get back to her previous home. Our boy, Jim would sit in the yard with the rope tied around his leg while Dena threw herself at the end of the rope trying to get away. After a period of time, she began to accept our home as hers. She decided that I was her primary person and Jim was her secondary person. She despised my husband. She growled at him, she snarled at him, and she lunged at him. She was particularly upset whenever he got near me. This went on for months. He developed an attitude problem toward her also of course. We became concerned when, one day, she nipped at him. I notified Judy and she prepared to come and remove Dena from our home. As a last resort, Jim called Kathy. Once again, she understood the problem, gave us the necessary advice and we were able to defuse that situation.
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