Stubborn Dog, Novice Owner

The Barking is Back

May 23, 2022May 23, 2022Diane J.

We’ve lost control, Pandora is back to barking. Or maybe it’s her version of narrating the play-by-play of the household. Every dog in a five-mile radius knows what is going on at our house.

We Hear Barking…

Pandora believes it’s just letting us know, or more specifically, letting ME know what everyone else is doing. And everything that is happening around us. She feels no need to let anyone know what is going on when I’m not home. Other than, “Oh uh, someone is on the property.”

When I’m home it’s a completely different story.

“MOM! One of the kids walked out of his room.”

“MOM! He went into the bathroom.”

“MOM! Dad turned on the outside water faucet! OH MY… Water! MOMMMMM, WATERRRRR!”

“MOM! A car drove by.”

“MOM! A leaf fell 3 miles away.”

“MOM! Dad sneezed.”

And heaven help anyone who wants to talk to me while I’m in my office. Pandora has taken it upon herself to be the guardian of my productivity. Or just insanely jealous of anyone who wants my attention. There is the possibility that she understands my desire to be a hermit and is trying to provide that for me. Whatever, her perception is, she is very vocal to anyone who starts to talk to me.

When anyone leaves the house, she gets very upset. I’m not sure, but I wonder if she feels like she failed on the corralling of her herd. “They’re getting away.”

Whatever the Case May Be…

I’m going bonzo. What happened? We had the barking under control for a bit, but then she snapped.

The worst part is that she is the absolute worst with my husband. Whenever he’s in the yard working, she is trying to heel him and barking at every move he makes so long as I’m home. If I’m not home, she sulks, she doesn’t care what others do. Understand, this is hearsay, as I have never seen this side of her. But apparently, my husband and boys can vacuum, mow, hammer, go in and out of the garage, leave, do whatever they want without Little Miss giving a play-by-play.

When I’m home, I have to go rein in Pandora when she’s barking at my husband. He just ignores her and keeps doing what he’s doing. Which is not helping her learn. With spring and summer, he’s outside a lot, which means I can’t get invested in my tasks and work because I have to go deal with the barking. I don’t want to be that dog owner, the one that allows the dog to bark and bark and bark. And I can get her to back off. Until I leave.

Possible Reasons for the Increase

Obviously, the first reason is that my husband isn’t training her. Let’s be clear, when the whole family is consistent with the training, the dog will respond for each person. My husband likes to get out and do what he needs to do. He doesn’t want to stop moving and get the dog under control, he wants to do his thing.

Last year, my husband did do some training with Pandora. And even though she didn’t change to perfection, she responded fairly well. As with all training, we need to be consistent, and we need to revisit it often. The sooner you get on top of it, the better. The first few days will be the worst, but then it will get easier and easier.

Another reason for the increase, we have our twin boys home for the summer. There’s been an adjustment in the family. Whenever, there is a new adjustment, Pandora (and even I) have to adjust. We have to adjust to the comings and goings which are more frequent. We have to adjust to more noise and activity.

Sometimes barking is a sign that the dog isn’t getting enough activity. And since we’re dealing with an Australian Cattle Dog, that is something I’m very mindful about, making sure Little Miss is stimulated mentally and that she gets lots of run and activity time.

The New Plan to Reduce the Bark

This time around, I’m going to be implementing the same thing as before. Rewarding for “quiet”. I want her to bark when people come by the house, but I want to stop when I acknowledge what she’s telling me.

And once we get that back under control, we can use it for all the other stuff she feels she needs to let me know about.

The biggest caveat is that she doesn’t do it for treats. She did that once before. Expecting the treat and throwing out some unnecessary barks just to get a treat. I’m thinking it might be wise to delay the treats as she learns. We’ll start with instant treat on a pause. We’ll move to instant treat when she responds to the command. Then we’ll start stretching it, waiting one second after she follows the command, then two seconds and so on.

I also love Pet Web MD’s idea of getting the pooch in a spot when anyone comes home or to the door.

And, I’m going to give my husband three links on training to read through and let him decide how he wants to approach training her. I like to give options so people can find what works best for them. When I train Pandora, I give a hand signal as well as a verbal signal. This way, I have two ways of communicating with her. So I figure if my husband wants to try something different, he can use the same hand signal and we’ll get the same effect. That’s my theory.

Side Note: Hand signals are awesome. They have come in handy many times, when I’m talking with a neighbor or someone on a trail, but I don’t want to interrupt the conversation to get Pandora to sit or come.

And, as always, I will update in a month, how the training is going.

If you have any suggestions that have worked for you and your dog, please share, I’d love to hear them.

If you’re curious about the links I’m sending to my husband:

Pet Web MD

Pet Doors

Everyday Health

Wonky Schedules Throw off Schedule-Loving Dog

May 2, 2022May 1, 2022Diane J.

Another update in the keeping it real department, when you have a schedule-loving dog.

Schedule-Loving Dog

Pandora loves a good schedule. A lot of dogs are this way. A lot of people are this way, and just don’t realize it.

Pandora knows we got upstairs by 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. and she gets antsy when I don’t make the move to head toward the bedroom. She will be that way for a good twenty minutes before realizing that mom and dad are watching a show and it’s going to be a tad longer. Little Miss, also knows our morning routine; I will shower, then head downstairs and send her outside for potty time. While she’s out doing her thing, I quickly get the cats fed – if I wait it’s chaos. And Pandora knows that when she comes in, she gets to lick up any remnants the cats left behind. Then she’ll watch me empty the dishwasher and start my tea. The moment all the normal tasks are done, Pandora grabs her frisbee and throws it at my feet.

She lives for frisbee time.

Pandora knows when we should be awake, sometimes she’ll give us an extra hour, but that’s about it, she’ll start rolling on us and grumbling if we laze too long in the bed.

She is a schedule-loving dog.

When The Schedule is Broken

Now, I learned with my twins that you can’t be too rigid in your schedules. Yes, I did learn that the hard way. It was a desperate attempt to retain as much sanity as possible on very little sleep.

And Pandora is no exception. Every Wednesday her friend comes over the day, but sometimes her pal can’t make it. And Pandora gets irritated. She gets antsy when 8:45 comes around, by 9:00 she’s downright obnoxious barking at every little thing. By 9:15 she resigns herself that her friend must not be coming over and she gives me the stink eye. The next time her friend arrives, Pandora is slightly more aggressive, like she’s saying, “Where’ve you been?!”

My work schedule isn’t always consistent, it has some semblance of a pattern, but it’s not a perfect time match every single day. Pandora knows it is a workday when I put on my work pants. She gets quiet and tries to block me from heading downstairs. I think she understands that I’ll be back, but when I get home, she always acts surprised that I survived to get home. Some days, I feel the same, LOL.

Our schedule is a tight regimen. But it’s consistent enough that she knows what to expect.

A Daily Structure is More Important than a Strict Routine for Your Dog
As your dog gets more comfortable in their new home, it’s useful to mix up their routine every so often to prevent separation anxiety, and lessens both your and your dog’s stress in case you can’t make it home in time for a regular feeding or walk.
Preventive Vet

When The Schedule Goes Way Off

My little schedule-loving dog does not take major detours well.

Ten days ago, I took a trip across the state to see my son’s jazz concert. I stayed the night. Little Miss stayed home with Dad. When I got back she was okay. She was disturbed, but she knows I’ve done a few trips like this before. She is a Mama’s girl. When I’m not home she’s depressed. She won’t bark unless someone is right at the door.

But a few days after I got home my husband had to travel for work. He was gone for three days and two nights. Pandora has never known Dad to not come home. She wasn’t depressed, but she did turn into an insane guard dog. Anyone driving down the street (rush hour was a nightmare) sent her into a tailspin of hatred and spittle-flying barking. At night she wouldn’t relax. She’s always attuned to any movement, but instead of lying there deciding if it was something she needed to note or not, she would pounce into guard position and growl and bark. Then instead of curling up and snoozing away, she’d lay at the foot of the bed, staring at the bedroom door. Probably the only time I ever felt she wouldn’t listen to me if I tried to stop her from going after a person, in a vicious mode.

The Break

Apparently, that chaotic week broke her. She’s been extra barky. We were making some progress, but now it’s like back at square one.

In an effort to gain some traction I’ve had to go back to basics with all training just to regroup her to listen to her no barking commands. And it’s taken three days to get some results – she’s good with everything except barking and jumping. We were making headway on the jumping, but that took a dive. I’m pretty sure it’s because she’s a schedule-loving dog.

The Lesson

Pandora has her fear of cars, and she gets depressed when I leave, so I’m assuming a routine is something that gives her more confidence. This break from the normal was a bit too much for her.

I don’t know how I could have made this better for her, but I know that getting her back on track, meant just going through all the training basics that she’s knows to get a foothold on dealing with the barking again.

If you have a nervous dog, it may be helpful to get a nice routine for them. But not a super strict one.

Happy Updates – Australian Cattle Dog Training

April 26, 2022April 26, 2022Diane J.

Happy Updates - Cattle Dog Training — A well exercised pup is a tired pup. A tired pup is a well-behaved pup.

I’m going to keep this post short this week, because I have happy updates in the dog training arena.

First – No, she’s not walking near cars

When I get excited, I fear people will think, we finally busted through the fears and walked near cars. No, that is not one of the happy updates I have to share. Depending on the day, I either believe it will happen or believe it will never happen. I’m human, not matter how optimistic I try to be, there are days the clouds linger dark and low.

I’m seriously considering a dog stroller. I don’t want to buy one for two reasons, 1) I really don’t want to push my dog that needs to burn energy in one, that seems like it would defeat the purpose. 2) There’s a part of me that thinks if I could just use one for a few weeks or a month, Pandora would learn it’s okay and finally start walking. Which would make the stroller unnecessary and then a waste of money. Those things aren’t cheap.

Enough about the long-standing training issue and let’s dive into the two happy updates.

Happy Update #1

Pandora willingly jumped into the car to go for our hike.

Now she used to do that. A year ago, she was all about hopping in to go. But then, we hit a wall. Mostly because I wasn’t taking her to trails regularly, due to our favorite trail getting downsized and No Trespassing signs cropping up. That meant a longer drive which I don’t always have the time to do. And another part of the reason was that I was hoping that by avoiding the trails she’d get excited to try walking anywhere, bwahahaha. No, no, that is not in her wiring.

Skip ahead, I started taking her to trails again. However, she didn’t want to get in the car. That was a big “no-go.” She loved it once we got there, but she would have preferred teleporting, if possible.

Since teleportation isn’t available, I’d have to enlist my husband or one of my sons to help me corral her, pick her up, and physically place her in the vehicle. If I never told you her breed, you’d never guess she was a cattle dog.

But last week, I decided to take the truck and when I went to start it, she hopped right in. I thought it might be a fluke. Maybe she didn’t realize I was going to take her with me, but she didn’t get upset.

Then, the next day I went to take her out, I decided we’d use the car. But, again, I didn’t think she’d hop in. Low and behold, she did! Now, she’s pretty happy to go. WooHoo!

Happy Update #2

Training and age are paying off. If you have a pooch under two years of age, hang in there! You will get to these moments. Don’t give up. If you’re doing better than us, send encouragement.

Sunday, when Pandora and I were out on the trails it was busy. The weather had warmed up and the sun was shining and us Pacific Northwesterners decided we’d see if vampires really turn to dust or not. We didn’t, so that’s good news.

Pandora has done fairly well, on recall when we’re on walks. I see people ahead and recall her, leash her, and we go past like normal dog and people do. Then I remove the leash and let her happily bound around.

But she’s always given a little extra pull on the leash when a runner or bicycle goes by. They kind of depress her. She realizes how slow I am, and she doesn’t hide the disappointment from me. She does not spare my feelings. Anyway, there was a bicycle on the trail that day and we saw him approach, thankfully he was going slow. I got her on the leash long before he got to us. He asked some directions, and we went our separate ways.

Well, a short while later, he appeared behind us. Again, he was going slow and dang was he silent, neither my friend nor I, nor either of our dogs heard him coming up behind us. There was no time to leash Pandora and my skipped. She started to trot his way; I called her back. She stopped, looked at me, looked back at the guy riding away ahead of us, and then she turned and came back. Insert crazy happy dance, here.

I do believe training was a big part of the equation, but I definitely think that age has to be addressed, too. Sometimes when they calm down from the exuberance of puppyhood, they listen better.

Pandora’s Training is Taking Shape

April 4, 2022April 4, 2022Diane J.

We had a happy moment in Pandora’s training this past week.

For those who are new here, Pandora is a two-year-old Australian Cattle Dog. We have been training her since we brought her home and, well, we’ll always be training her. Right now, our training still focuses on skills that are useful to keep her safe and to help her behave. Later on, we’ll need to keep training her to keep her mind busy. Mental activity tires a dog out. Some mental activities that are harder and worked on longer can poop a pup out almost as much as some physical exercise.

Our Training Struggle

We struggle to get Pandora to walk near roads. The thought of getting her to walk ON a road with vehicles, well, that’s all that is, a thought.

Another struggle we have in training is that Pandora still likes to jump on the cats when they come in from outside. She doesn’t try to attack them, she’s just aggressive in play. Very aggressive. And, since she’s a cattle dog, she doesn’t back down when they swipe her with their claws fully extended.

The last struggle in training is the barking. We’ve been working on this, and I have to admit, this is the first training area where she will act up solely to get a treat. We were doing well, telling her, “Quiet” and then giving a treat the instant, she stopped barking. Well, she took that the next level. And began barking more and then looking at us for the treat.

So, I switched gears and instead of giving her a treat, I now use a firm voice to tell her “Stop it.” And she does. But she only does so for me. For whatever reason (probably my husband being considered a playmate in her eyes), she has been worse at barking at my husband. She’ll just go down to him and bark incessantly. She won’t stop until I intervene. Which is not okay.

The Fun Side of Training

Now, let’s get to the good stuff. The stuff that makes all the training worth it. And that is when the training pays off.

I’ll start with the cats. While this is still a struggle, Pandora has made some tiny progress. She isn’t doing this consistently, but it’s becoming more frequent. when the cats come inside, they usually go for their food bowl. Which have set up on a hutch in our dining room. Pandora always rushes the hutch and nips at the cats’ tails or paws. Recently, however, as I tell her to “Leave It” she turns and grabs one of her stuffed toys. We didn’t train her to do that, I think she just discovered that she would prefer to have something to chew on to calm her down.

The Happy Moment

Actually, it’s two moments that make me really happy. One is that she is calming down on her jumping. She does fairly well, but there are still two people she feels the need to jump on. One is my husband. And I know why she does that to him, because he allows it. It makes him happy when he comes home from work. And the other is a friend of ours who also loves the greeting.

Last week on one of our trail visits she came across a few guys talking and she went up to them, but she didn’t charge, more of a trot, and she didn’t jump on them. She stuck her nose out to sniff and I called her back and she came back. This was near the end of our walk and Pandora was calmer. Just by her demeanor, I could tell this was not a big deal.

Yes, I usually put her on a leash when I see other people, however, we had just come into a clearing and the guys were right there. The majority of the time I see or hear people and get Pandora on a leash before we get near them.

BUT, we had an even BIGGER training success yesterday on the trail.

Pandora spotted a backpacker behind us. I redirected her attention because he was a about a good 1/3 of a mile back. We on the trail with my friend who has a little Chihuahua. This dog will happily out-hike many small breed dogs. She goes 3 to 5 miles without an issue. However, she is tiny and so we walk slower for her. Sweetest little pooch.

Anyway, the hiker started gaining on us pretty quick. And Pandora started to trot back to check the situation out. I called her and she slowed down, then I told her to “Sit” and she did. I had her “Wait” while I walked to her and then put the leash on.

Was it Perfect?

No. A superbly trained dog would have come to a full stop and recall. Pandora is not superbly trained. Clearly, I’m not a certified trainer or even someone with a ton of experience in the training department.

What it was though, was a huge success for us. And that made my day.

Keep training, the successes no matter how small are so worth it.

Training Stalled? Step Back and Refresh

March 29, 2022March 29, 2022Diane J.

Our training stalled. Or we hit a wall. Whatever you want to call it, we weren’t moving forward. Last week’s post outlined the lowest point yet in our training journey.

(Links may be affiliates. They do not add to the cost of the product, but we receive a miniscule amount from your purchase. Which goes to funding Pandora’s frisbee addiction – we go through those discs like crazy.)

What Happens: Stalled Training

When I hit the wall with training Pandora, I hit the lowest of low – mood wise. And I felt nothing when I went out to train her. That’s the worst position to be in. I don’t want her to think she’s the reason for that attitude. As far as I know, dogs can sense our feelings and I don’t want to put my disappointment on her shoulders.

They are not sensing specific feelings but instead the positivity or negativity of the feeling. Once dogs sense the way you are feeling, the way in which they act will often reflect that same feeling. They will then start acting and even vocalizing in a certain way based on your feelings, body language, and tone.
Can Dogs Sense Feelings? – Wag! (wagwalking.com)

For us, we hit a wall. I went through the motions of training, but my heart wasn’t in it. And I don’t think Pandora’s was either. We both were looking at each other with the “What the hell?” look. Me, at her, for not getting past the fear of the road and her, at me, for not understanding her fear of the road.

We Stepped Back

Then I went back to just taking her outside for frisbee. Mostly because I was bummed, but also because I felt she needed something to let her know I wouldn’t keep trying to drag her up the driveway every single time we stepped outside.

And that put a spring in her step. Or rather an extra spring in her leaps for the frisbee. I hate taking a step back. It makes me feel like we are going to lose every shred of ground we gained, even though sometimes it helps us move forward. I know that it could help us, but I’m so terrified, I keep pushing.

So, I did what I do best. I whined, to every dog person I came across in hopes someone had a suggestion I haven’t tried. Low and behold, Pandora’s groomer (we pay for nail trims – she has the dark nails) gave me a suggestion. She told me to try the Happy Hoodie. Apparently, she uses it for some of the dogs when blow -drying them. The blower is loud, and it helps diminish the noise and makes it more bearable. She also said I could try some cotton first before investing in the Happy Hoodie. I’ve linked to the hood on Amazon. It’s basically like a gator that goes over the dogs’ ears and neck. Pretty sure Pandora is going to look like a surprised seal when we get ours.

We Refreshed

Finally, we refreshed. Instead of trying to coerce her up the driveway, I took her to a trail that the groomer recommended. She said it had a lot of trails and was away from vehicles. I’m sure for most dogs it would be great, but the road was still too close for Pandora’s liking. However, Pandora did get out of the car and start checking out the new area. I can’t say how many miles of trails there are since Pandora only did about a third of a mile. She got nervous after hearing a car and tried to veer back to our vehicle.

I still think the trip was worth it. I put no expectations on Pandora. I let her sniff everything she wanted to and let her choose the direction she wanted to go. Did you see the picture of her at top? That was on the trail. There was a tree that had a long sloping trunk, that I had her hop on to get a picture. I tried to reward her with a piece of steak, she wouldn’t take it. She was still on edge.

And both Saturday and Sunday, I took her to meet my friend who was puppy sitting a super hyper dog and we took them to some trails away from all vehicles. Pandora and Bo ran and leaped and played for a few hours each day. Pandora even went swimming.

And now, Pandora is feeling happier and so am I.

So, when the training stalls, don’t get discouraged (I should follow my own advice), just do something different and bring the joy back into your pup and you with whatever makes your dog happiest.

Dog Training Frustration

March 21, 2022March 29, 2022Diane J.

Training your dog is not always as easy as whipping up peaches and cream. It’s also not full of sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. Honestly, it can be downright frustrating.

Please bear with me on the dog-training frustrations front, it gets a little brighter at the end of this piece.

Reality Means Frustration and Elation

One thing I promised myself, and that I am now sharing with you, is that I would keep this site as realistic as possible. I didn’t want to set high expectations and promise that life would be easy if you were a novice owner of a particularly stubborn breed of dog. Nothing is gained by people who claim you can train your dog, and all will be rosy. It just makes us feel like failures. And we’re not, and neither are our dogs.

Before we brought Pandora home, I started watching dog training videos. I knew I was a novice, and I knew Australian Cattle Dogs are not recommended for novice owners. So, I watched video after video. One thing that stood out, was that professional dog trainers made it look somewhat easy.

Each episode began with a problem that was the video’s focus and, in a half-hour, we got the final results. We know, realistically, these trainers didn’t get those results in a half an hour. Yet, we don’t know how long it took to get those results. We don’t know how many hours a day they worked with the dog; we don’t know how many days they worked with the dog.

I wanted to avoid that. I want people to have a real sense of how long training can take. Some things Pandora picks up quick, and some things…well, that’s today’s focus.

Complete, Utter Frustration

Last week was a low point. I hit rock bottom. Frustration punched my gut and stomped on my heart.

Each time my husband and I take our evening walk, I see dogs with their people, walking happily around the lake. Last week, every time I saw a person with their dog, I started to cry.

The Melt Down

I can’t get Pandora to walk with us near vehicles. After yet, another regression in the training, my heart broke. I went into full-on self-pity mode:
She’s never going to walk with us. She’s never going to get over this fear. I can’t train her anymore. I’ve hit a wall and there’s nothing left I can do.

I was so gut-wrenchingly destroyed, that when I went out to work with Pandora, I had no feelings. Complete numbness. I knew nothing was going to change. If this were a movie, this is where I would say, “But she did it! This was the day she walked up to the top of the driveway.” Alas, this is not a movie, she didn’t go to the top of the driveway. It was the same thing as the previous two and a half weeks.

The only difference is that Pandora knew something was off with me. Pandora’s cure all is Frisbee, so she’d bring the disc and I’d half-heartedly play with her. I truly felt I failed her.

Each evening I spent a good hour tossing and turning: is it me? Am I that inept at training? Is it Pandora’s stubbornness? Could it be her fear of cars? Is it that her hearing is so sensitive that the cars sound 40x louder than we hear them?

The Moment of Clarity

I felt defeated. It was time I saved up and paid for a professional dog trainer. But, at $150 per hour (some are the same price but only 30-minutes), I realized a professional is not in our immediate future. I’m sure Pandora would need many lessons.

I started journaling about my frustration. We’ve been working on this walking issue since we brought her home. She’s two now. A month and a half ago, I made it a Priority Training Exercise. Meaning, that was the main task we would work on every day.

The first week went well. I got her to the telephone pole. Joy of all joys! Then we went backwards. She stopped walking tentatively with me and started pulling the leash for the back yard. She started turning her back to me and crouching down. I had to walk backwards and offer endless treats to get her to go back to the telephone pole.

It was then I realized. I was using regular dog treats.

We Are Making Progress – Frustration is Waning

Regular dog treats. This may not seem like a big deal, but one year ago, I couldn’t even get her past the front end of our vehicle. And I was using the “big guns” of dog treats. Bacon. A full slice of real bacon. She wouldn’t even walk with me for that.

Now, even though we struggle, even though it seems like endless setbacks, she will follow me for a regular dog treat.

If you look at the picture above, you’ll see where the front of the car is. That was as far as I could get her a year ago. Now, we can get to the telephone pole. By this time next year, we should be able to get to the top of the driveway.

Don’t give up. You will get some wins and some frustrations, don’t quit. We’ll get there. I don’t know when, but I believe we will. You will, too.

How to Care for Pup After You have surgery

How to Care for Your Pup After You Have Surgery

March 14, 2022March 8, 2022Diane J.

Preparation Before Surgery

I recently had major surgery. Thankfully, I had the chance to plan ahead. Which meant getting ahead on household chores, work tasks, and Pandora’s training, some of it anyway.

Even if you don’t have an upcoming surgery, it’s probably a good idea to make sure your dog is trained in a few commands. These are mostly the basics. The stuff they tell us to train our dogs on immediately. The commands that can help us keep our dogs safe, and us too. There is a bonus to having these commands down well. If you have emergency surgery, with no time to pre-train your pup, your home recovery will be easier.

If you are lucky enough to prepare in advance, here are the areas you should focus on:

Training commands, such as “off,” “down,” “gentle,” “wait.”
Changing behaviors such as not jumping on you when you get home, going ahead of you when going up or down stairs.
Investing in some dog puzzles or a dog walker – things that will burn your pup’s energy, calmly.

Training Commands

When my doctor said surgery, this was the training area that I cracked down on for Pandora. She loves to jump on me, my husband, our neighbors, other people, you know, everyone. We couldn’t have that for when I got home so she had to learn not to do it.

The reason Pandora jumped on us so often is because my husband loves that she barrels out the door and jumps to greet him. We’re undecided if she’s trying to jump into his arms or if she’s leaping that high to lick his nose. Since my husband wouldn’t work on the “off” command before, he finally realized we had to now.

The best response we got was semi-ignoring Pandora when she greeted us. We’d say hello to her, and then when she’d jump, we’d say “off” while turning sideways. If she was launching into the jump, we’d put a knee up that prevented her from getting close. She’d bounce off the knee.

Pandora understands “sit,” and “wait,” well enough.

The one thing I wish I had taught her, was “gentle.” She’s not insanely rough, but it would have come in handy when she’d curl up with me if she understood to be a little gentle. You know, don’t walk over the surgery site three times to find where you want to lie down. Here’s a link on how to train “gentle.”

Changing Behavior

The biggest behavior changes you’ll want are for your dog are, jumping on you and not being underfoot on stairs. After surgery, you may be weaker, you may have balance issues, you may be dizzy. The last thing you need is your dog to knock you over and possibly reinjure or cause more injuries to your situation.

I already addressed the training of “Off,” above.

Not having your dog underfoot on stairs, is really nice. I never spent time training Pandora to go ahead of me on the stairs, but she learned it fairly quick. When she was a few months old, she’d bite at my feet when I was near the stairs. One day, I stopped moving and pointed down the stairs. Pandora ran down. From then on all I had to do was gesture (which is the equivalent of a one-handed “you first” gesture) and Pandora goes up or down ahead of me.

I watch a friend’s pup a few days a week and she walks down the stairs with me. Sometimes, she’s in a hurry and shoves by me. Usually, she’s pretty good about staying to the side of me, but every once in a while, she’s tried to shove by me or stopped in front of me.

Invest in Energy Burners

Pandora’s favorite activity is frisbee. Since I knew that I wouldn’t be able to give her that energy outlet for a few weeks, I had to do some planning. Thankfully, I have my husband and a son who can take her out, but she doesn’t play long with them. So, I started preparing by stocking up on items that could be used to entertain her brain and nose. While she doesn’t spend a bunch of physical energy, she tires herself out thinking.

I stocked up on toilet paper rolls, the cardboard piece. I cut them in half and put a tiny treat in each piece, then wrap it up around the treat. A little pocket if you will. I would put Pandora in a room and then hide the packets around the house. Each time I did this, I tried to find new places. I would do about 12 packets, six rolls. If you use treats like Dingos, you can save on the extra calories, by breaking them in half or thirds.

Another thing I did was to take an old blanket and scatter a few treats in it, then roll it up, tie it in a loose knot, and toss it on the floor. She spent a good while trying to get her treats out from the fuzzy depths.

And, I bought a dog puzzle off of Amazon. I was able to sit on the couch and play with her.

A Few Other Suggestions

If you don’t have someone at home, maybe hire a local teen to come play with your dog or to walk your dog. When friends or family come by you can ask them to spend some time playing tug or throwing a ball for your dog.

Lick Mats keep them busy, but calm for a while, so those are handy to have on hand.

Snuffle Mats, are great for nose work that encourages them to work those sniffers to find their food.

Get Pandora’s favorite indoor energy burners (just check with your doctor before anything that requires your physical movement – like throwing a ball).

The prep work takes time

…but it will make your home healing process smoother.

Curb the Barking

March 7, 2022March 6, 2022Diane J.

Ears Ringing from Barking?

Pandora only had one event where her incessant barking put us on our neighbors’ “most hated” list. That was when Pandora decided no more night crate. And she was done. Period.

I’m fairly stubborn myself, and figured it was just a phase. I kept telling my husband if we give in, she’s never going back in the crate again. We have to ride out the phase. For two weeks, I’d put her in the crate and the barking would start and it wouldn’t stop until I opened the crate in the morning. She’d take a few twenty second breathers here and there, but she never stopped. All night long. Fourteen nights. I’m no stranger to sleepless nights, I raised twins. However, I will admit that once the twins slept through the night, I thoroughly enjoyed the sleep. So much so, that it’s really hard to go back to sleepless nights, or maybe it’s age.

I’m a firm believer that you need to pick your training method and see it through. I learned this through parenting a horde of boys. You can’t read a tip and try it for two days, then give up and try another. Your child needs to know the consequences will be the same and you will stick to it. When I implemented a punishment for my kids, I gave it a solid two weeks. Usually, it only took a week so long as I was consistent.

So that ideology stuck with me during this phase with Pandora. And Pandora usually reacts like the kids. At first there is an increase in rebellion. Then there’s a little give, then reluctant acceptance followed quickly by another round of resistance, and finally full acceptance.

However, this time, there was no give. No change in the barking, no weakening in intensity. She gave me nothing. After two solid weeks, I had to admit, she’s not a crate dog. She’s not having it. I didn’t change anything, and she didn’t give one darn micromillimeter.

So, she no longer sleeps in the crate. We don’t even use the crate anymore.

Bad Barking Habits

Even though we solved the worst barking, if you consider ceding a solution, Pandora still has a few barking issues we need to work on.

Anytime I’m in my office and anyone wants to talk to me, she barks. She sees people walking up the road and she barks. A delivery driver comes down the driveway, she barks. My husband moves, she barks. People come to visit, and she barks for their attention.

Clearly, some of these, I want her to bark at. Others, not so much.

I want her to bark and let me know if someone is near the house. However, I want her to stop barking when I give a command. For a while, I would look out the window, take note of what she was barking at, and say “Okay, thank you.” It still works, but we seem to be in a regression period.

As for the other barking, I don’t want it at all. I don’t want my family shushed by my dog. My husband needs to do things and we don’t want to deal with my dog trying to give me a play-by-play of my husband’s actions.

Which has led us to…

Operation: Curb the Barking

Pandora doesn’t go on barking tirades when we’re not home. So far, the only things that have suffered during our absences have been toilet paper and tissue boxes. Which kind of sucked back in 2020 when people were hoarding toilet paper.

We decided to continue with our plan to acknowledge + “thank you” when people are near the house. I’m pretty sure it’s just a phase…(rereads paragraph two and prays).

I searched around the internet and came across two sites that share the same basic training idea:

WebMDs’ – Understanding why dogs bark and,

AKC’s – How to stop nuisance dog barking

Then I told my husband the plan, we will tell her “Quiet” and as soon as she pauses, we say, “Yes” and give her a treat. We also put our finger up to our mouth to show her a nonverbal command.

We’ve been doing this consistently for the past four days. And it’s working. It’s not perfect yet, but we are making a lot of progress. Last night, Pandora started to bark when my husband called to me from downstairs. I put my finger to my mouth, and she stopped. I didn’t even say “Quiet”.

Consistency and having us all on the same training method has made this process go well so far. Everyone in the house needs to be on board or Pandora will only listen to me, and then I get grumbly because I have to stop what I’m doing to go deal with the barking.

I’ll keep you posted, but for now, it’s working.

Always Account for Setbacks

There will always be a setback, a small rebellion. Whether it comes a few days after or a few months, the dog (kids do this too) will test you to make sure you are still enforcing the behavior. That’s okay. Don’t get discouraged. Usually, a couple days of constant training is the reassurance the dog needs to get back on the behavior track.

Unless it’s getting Pandora to walk on any path where vehicles can be seen and heard, then it can be discouraging. But that’s another blog post. We are making strides, but they are incredibly slow, and we have constant setbacks. So, yeah, that’s for another blog post.

For honest information on dog training check out: Behind the Game on Dog Training

Socialize Your Dog

February 14, 2022March 6, 2022Diane J.

Prior to bringing Pandora home, I’d heard, “You’ve got to socialize your dog.” Then I researched Australian Cattle Dogs. I learned they really need socialization as soon as possible. We had picked out Pandora a week before the nation went into the Covid lockdown. She arrived at our home amidst the lockdown.

All the pet stores had stopped their puppy play days. People avoided each other at dog parks. And I fretted that Pandora was going to turn into a mean, snarling beast around people and animals she didn’t know.

I panicked. How was I going to get her socialized? Does she really need socialization?

Do You Need to Socialize Your Dog?

It depends. If you live on a farm, you will train your dog to do a particular job. As a working dog, she’ll be pooped and ready to chill at the end of the day. You may train her to not jump on people arriving to your house. You may want to help her know it’s not okay to race up in attack mode. But for the most part, a dog that works that hard, will crash hard when off duty. She will know how or learn how to interact with the other dogs that live there and the animals on the farm. It’s rare to see a hard-working dog like this at a dog park. They get plenty of exercise at home.

For dogs you plan on bringing to your dog park, or walking your neighborhood, or bringing with you to places where other people and pets may be, it’s a good idea to socialize them. They need to know they don’t own every area they visit. You don’t want them terrorizing the other dogs at the park and you don’t want them terrorizing little kids.

And when it comes to parents and kids, I don’t care how happy your 140 lb. Boerboel dog is, you can’t let him charge up to a forty-pound child. If someone three times your size barrels up to you, you’re going to jump back. A kid may jump back, scream, cry, and or run.

That’s when problems ensue.

Once a person starts running, especially a smaller person, the dog is all “PLAY TIME! ALRIGHT!” The kid has no clue the dog might be harmless, the parents don’t know the dog is harmless. And even as the owner, you can’t guarantee your dog won’t bite the child willfully or accidentally. The worst dog bite I ever received was from a good dog that I knew. It was one of my friend’s dogs. A bunch of us kids were wrestling around, and the dog was playing with us and bit my knee. Broke the skin. The dog didn’t do it willfully. It was an accident.

That’s why it’s incredibly important to socialize your dog.

You want them to know how to play with other dogs, how to play with kids, how to be gentle.

How Do You Socialize When You’re in Lockdown (or When You’re an Introvert)?

Well, you make the best of what you can. I have a friend that I walked with who had just adopted an elderly one-eyed Chihuahua. We would meet up to go for walks. Sophie (the Chihuahua) didn’t take to Pandora’s puppy antics. Which was okay. Pandora learned that Sophie was fine with her walking near her, but she couldn’t wrestle with Sophie. When to leave another dog alone is an important social lesson for puppies.

When Pandora and I were out walking alone and came across another person, if the person seemed interested in Pandora, I’d asked them (if they were comfortable with it first – because it was during the height of the pandemic) if Pandora could come up to them. I never asked anyone to stop. Only people who happened to stop or show interest in her.

I did the same when we came across people who were out with the dog(s). Pandora met a lot of dogs on our walks. Some were not social. One snapped at her as they passed by us. It was okay. We had reached a tight spot on the trail and the lady mentioned her dog was crabby so we both held our dogs in close. The other dog didn’t touch Pandora. But Pandora learned that not all dogs want to play. She still makes an attempt to meet all dogs, but she knows when to leave the other dog alone.

Once Pandora had all her shots, we would go to dog park so she could meet other dogs and learn the social process. Most times, Pandora doesn’t like being on unfamiliar turf. So, she’s extra cautious meeting dogs in parks. She’s definitely not the aggressor type.

These small meetings with dogs here and there, were very helpful toward her socialization.

Socialize Your Dog with Other People

Once our area let up on pandemic restrictions, I started taking Pandora to the pet stores. This has helped her in more than one way. First, she gets to meet people in the store, and they all give her love. Two, she hates being anywhere near roads with vehicles. Knowing she can get out and go inside a place has helped her a wee bit.

Plus, she’s taken it upon herself to greet all customers as they come in. She’s definitely nervous as she does the wag and drag. That’s what I call the dropping low and scooching up to people with her belly just clearing the floor, her ears half back, and her tail wagging so hard, it’s basically Swiffering the floor behind her.

I would act excited when we met people she knew but hadn’t seen a while. This worked well. However, now we are working on not jumping to shoulder height in excitement when she sees them.

As for little kids, we haven’t had much of a chance to socialize her there. I met one child on a trail that wanted to pet Pandora. Other than that, Pandora has only been around two other sets of kids. One set were my friend’s kids. They were elementary aged at the time.

The other two kids were at the park. And they were hyper and loud. I knew Pandora was not having it and even though she didn’t show any aggression, we left. It was best for her to know that I wouldn’t force her to deal with them.

A Few Other Tips for Socialization

Go slow. Don’t take your dog to the dog park during the peak hours. Slow introductions to a lot of the typical fear areas can be beneficial.

Pandora hates the loud sound of the garbage trucks, so I attempted to desensitize her by playing an hour-long YouTube video of garbage trucks on repeat. In stereo. If your dog is terrified of fireworks, maybe look for videos of fireworks and start at low volume and each day increase the volume a little more.

A few other sites that give great tips on socialization of your dog:

DrMartyPets.com – socialize dogs

Rover.com – Socializing your pup

What were some of the best tips you heard or that you used to help your dog feel comfortable in different situations?

Coming Next week: Basic Dog Health/ Grooming Tips

Behind the Game with Dog Training

February 22, 2021January 19, 2022Diane J.

When You Didn’t Train from the Get-Go

Did you fall behind on the dog training?

Any of these reasons sound familiar:

You scoffed at the idea of needing to “train” your dog, only to realize, “Crap, I really do need to train my dog.” I’m serious here. When I had my twins, the hospital gave me a number to a Mother’s of Twins group. I scoffed; I didn’t need a support group. Two weeks later, delirious from lack of sleep, with infant twins screaming, I called the number and blubbered through tears, “I have twins.” It happens people, it happens. We scoff at something and then learn we really shouldn’t have.
Possibly you were on a roll with dog-training and then your job switched your hours. Or you had surgery. Or any other reason that side-lined you on the training front.
Maybe you got your dog just before, or right after, the Pandemic hit and the ability to hire a trainer or socialize went pfft!
Or you intended to hire a trainer or start obedience classes but, due to the Pandemic, finances got stretched too thin and/or local restrictions prevented meeting with a trainer.

Whatever the reason, if you’re behind the game like I am with training, don’t worry. We still have time.

It Won’t Be Quick or Easy

I’m not trying to be a Debbie-downer, I just want to keep things in perspective so you don’t lose hope. If I say it will be a breeze and it’s not, you’re going to either think you got an untrainable dog or that I’m an idiot. Neither of which are good.

Always remember, your dog will pick up some things quicker than other dogs. As with raising kids, do not compare where your dog is with another person’s dog. Your dog might not take to the idea of “sit,” he might walk away when you say it. Pandora (my pup) picked it up right away. It was crazy simple how fast she got some things like sit, look at me, and high five. It also gave me a false sense of belief in my training abilities. Which utterly crushed me when I realized she wasn’t going to do everything as easily as sit. That was part of the reason we fell off the training wagon.

If your dog is willing to walk out the front door on a leash and walk by vehicles, I envy you. I don’t even care if your dog doesn’t have leash manners. I’m in full envy. Pandora will not walk near vehicles or where she can hear them. It would be fine if we lived in the middle of nowhere, but we don’t. Again, no comparisons between dogs. Every dog has their own quirk. If you envy Pandora’s ability to pick up commands quickly, just remember I envy your ability to walk with your dog in public.

One of the first things you may have learned when researching how to train your dog is that it is best to do so after they have exercised. Dogs who get plenty of exercise are also better behaved because they wear off destructive energy. Can we revisit that I can’t walk my dog?

I can walk her, I have found a location where I can walk Pandora and she can get plenty of exercise, but I don’t have the time to drive out there every day. The ability to walk out the front door and go for a walk eludes us.

Persistence and Repetition Pay Off

Pandora has had this fear of vehicles since we brought her home. Nothing traumatic has ever happened to her near vehicles. When we’d go to see her, she would run around in a corner of a parking lot near a road. She was completely oblivious to the vehicles. What caused the fear? I have no clue.

We brought Pandora home three days before she turned eight weeks old. She is now one. We’ve just recently had two teeny, tiny successes with the walking.

The day before her first birthday (Feb. 3), she went to the vet. The vet is right off the main highway that runs through town. In case you don’t catch my drift, let me be clear, lots of vehicles, lots of loud heavy vehicles. Due to the COVID-19 era, we have to wait in the car. I tried to make the best of the wait by pointing out all the other dogs going into the vet on leashes. Pandora watched them, intrigued. Each time the vet’s door opened and a dog walked in, Pandora stood still with eyes wide open. The equivalent of us watching a horror movie and sitting rigidly, silently imploring the dingbat entering the killer’s lair to run the other way.

When the vet tech came out to the car, she asked me to lead Pandora to the door on her leash. I knew that wasn’t going to happen, but gotta try. Pandora jumped to the back seat and then to the front as I opened doors trying to snag her. Finally, I picked her up and set her on the ground and started walking. We walked the whole three yards to the vet’s door like a normal person and dog out for a walk. HALLELUJUAH! Then I handed the vet tech her leash. At that point the success turned into a typical dog-visiting-vet comedy. Pandora dropped low and dragged the tech back toward the car. I had to cut her off, pick her up, and hand her to the stunned tech.

Pandora is a tiny, mid-size dog. She’s an Australian Cattle Dog, but she’s definitely on the tiny size. However, she’s a ball of muscle. Her strength is what shocked the vet tech. Couple muscle with the adrenaline of fear and I’m not sure what the lady expected. It was probably that Pandora seemed okay about the situation until the lady opened the door.

Success Came AFTER Months of Training

I have been working with Pandora on this for many months. Each time I’d take her to her favorite place to walk (a bunch of trails away from everything), I’d keep her on the leash for a little bit and work on leash manners and “look at me.” Then I’d let her off the leash and let her run. ACDs are velcro dogs. She doesn’t run too far away. She’ll get a little ahead and then come back and keep repeating. The majority of the time, she comes back when called. She only ignores me if she’s sniffing something good.

I’ve also been working with her in the backyard. Having her wait and then come to me, or wait until I come back to her. Then I would put the leash on her while we’re in the back yard after Frisbee time and work on leash manners. She’s not as receptive in the back yard. She lies down, afraid that I’m going to make her go to the front yard.

When I say leash manners, I tell her “with me,” and want her to walk by my side. If she starts to pull, I change direction. And we keep repeating.

A couple of videos I watched to learn leash manners: 5 Reasons Your Leash Walking Isn’t Working and 5 Quick Tips to Stop Your Dog from Pulling both are from McCann Dog Training.

In an effort to desensitize her to loud vehicles, I’ve been playing YouTube videos of garbage trucks at work. With the stereo on and the volume up enough that it sounds like garbage trucks are hoisting cans in our kitchen. She’s been getting better with vehicle sounds. Yes, there really are channels that have hours of garbage trucks doing their thing. I hear those trucks in my sleep now.

If you need to work on desensitizing your dog to loud vehicles this YouTube Garbage truck video has over an hour of garbage trucks doing their thing.

Our second success came a few days ago. I took her to a local dog park. It is off a medium-busy road. Meaning you can still hear the vehicles, but you usually can’t see them. In order to visit the park, you have to park your vehicle approximately ten yards away. She hopped right out of the car and headed for the dog park. I was so excited I filmed it and put it on our Stubborn Dog Novice Owner Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLaXls5D0cN/

I didn’t worry about her leash manners, we were experiencing progress!

When you get a moment of success don’t worry about perfection. Get the big success first, then worry about those nuances.

There Will Be Setbacks

Also, know that there will be setbacks in dog training. It sucks. Many times I have whined that I’m never going to get Pandora to walk around the lake. We sit just up from a great loop around a lake. It’s perfect for a midday walk, an evening walk, a whenever we need fresh air walk. If we ever get to that point. Yes, I still get discouraged and need encouragement at times. Please feel free to send encouragement in the comments.

One of our setbacks came on the heals of me pushing a little too hard. I figured I would carry her up to the mailbox and then walk her back down the driveway. It’s about 25 yards from our drive to the mailbox. It worked. She was excited to get back to the house. But the third day I tried it, she ran away from me to avoid getting the leash on – we were still inside the house.

I backed off for a month and then started the backyard training. We’d been doing that training for almost a month when we had the mini-success at the vet’s.

Don’t Lose Hope

The training takes time. It will test your creativity to defeat the biggest obstacle. In the end it will pay off.

I’m not at the end point yet with Pandora, but I truly believe this. Despite my many whining sessions, I do believe we’ll get to walk the lake someday.

If you have any tips on what’s worked for you in walking a fearful dog, please share, I would love to hear them.

Other posts you may find interesting: Australian Cattle Dog, Novice Owner