It's actually more than a gray day; it's downright dark and raining cats and dogs! A great day to stay inside with the kids, curl up with books and knit.
I'm a huge fan of this book this week. And probably forever.
When we got Gus, Barbara recommended Good Owners, Great Dogs
by the same folks. I got it, and it's a good book, BUT he said over and over again that I need professional help with the dog that I have because of his (Gus's) personality. My Smart Puppy , OTOH, is full of excellent training lessons for your puppy. It even comes with a DVD which I watched with Meg and Pip yesterday.
In the past few days, he has come a long way. That's due in a large part to the training techniques from this book and the other one, but also to the fact that I finally got him to submit by laying him on his side and holding him down (known as the Alpha Roll, which Kilcommons does not recommend). I know that's a controversial technique, and can be downright dangerous with larger dogs, but Gus just would not submit to authority, and was constantly snapping back when he was told No. I had been doing it almost daily since the first couple of weeks, but it was having no effect, until the day I held the scruff of his neck while holding him down. I was able to hold him with much less pressure and he gave in within minutes. I've only done it a couple more times since then, but he's a much more obedient pup now! I'm holding on to the expert trainer's phone number that I got from the vet, just in case, but I'm really hoping we won't need it after all.
But, as I said, now that Gus is more compliant, the tips we've gotten from My Smart Puppy are turning him into a very pleasant pup. He still has bad days, like yesterday, but I think I'm going to chalk those up to tummy troubles as he eats everything he can find outdoors and then has very...ahem...unusual stools. There seeems to be a correlation between, say, yesterday's behavior and today's eliminations.
Moving on to knitting now... :-)
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(Will upload photo as soon as the computer lets me! Stop by again!)
I have frogged this sweater completely about 3 times. I've ripped back 5 or 6 rows several times, and I'm still not sure why I'm messing up a fairly simple project. I'm almost at the point where I can take the sleeve stitches off the needles and just knit the body, so I'm definitely looking forward to that! It's a nice...ahem...mindless project for these too busy days. Or at least it will be when I get to the miles of stockinette that are the body and sleeves!
When we got Gus, Barbara recommended Good Owners, Great Dogs
by the same folks. I got it, and it's a good book, BUT he said over and over again that I need professional help with the dog that I have because of his (Gus's) personality. My Smart Puppy , OTOH, is full of excellent training lessons for your puppy. It even comes with a DVD which I watched with Meg and Pip yesterday. In the past few days, he has come a long way. That's due in a large part to the training techniques from this book and the other one, but also to the fact that I finally got him to submit by laying him on his side and holding him down (known as the Alpha Roll, which Kilcommons does not recommend). I know that's a controversial technique, and can be downright dangerous with larger dogs, but Gus just would not submit to authority, and was constantly snapping back when he was told No. I had been doing it almost daily since the first couple of weeks, but it was having no effect, until the day I held the scruff of his neck while holding him down. I was able to hold him with much less pressure and he gave in within minutes. I've only done it a couple more times since then, but he's a much more obedient pup now! I'm holding on to the expert trainer's phone number that I got from the vet, just in case, but I'm really hoping we won't need it after all.
But, as I said, now that Gus is more compliant, the tips we've gotten from My Smart Puppy are turning him into a very pleasant pup. He still has bad days, like yesterday, but I think I'm going to chalk those up to tummy troubles as he eats everything he can find outdoors and then has very...ahem...unusual stools.
There seeems to be a correlation between, say, yesterday's behavior and today's eliminations. Moving on to knitting now... :-)
~~~
I have frogged this sweater completely about 3 times. I've ripped back 5 or 6 rows several times, and I'm still not sure why I'm messing up a fairly simple project. I'm almost at the point where I can take the sleeve stitches off the needles and just knit the body, so I'm definitely looking forward to that! It's a nice...ahem...mindless project for these too busy days. Or at least it will be when I get to the miles of stockinette that are the body and sleeves!
Oh that Gus! I did not realize that Brian did not recommend submissive exercises. For all dogs? We did them with our Corgi who was awful at settling. I hate to tell you we ended up having to get rid of her (three years later). Maggie wasn't quite as bad but even she didn't like it and she is a very nice dog. Give that pup heck, Sara! I watched Caesar do the submissive exercises once and he really had to wait along time for the dog to settle. You just have to be the stronger willed being. You can do it.
ReplyDeleteI forgot we used to do that with Lucy as well. It worked so long as we could catch her. :-)
ReplyDeletePicture, Picture!! Must see the picture!!
I'm knitting a very boring dish scrubber to use up some yarn. It's a great mindless project for me.
Carol