A while ago I wrote a post about how proud I was that Abby has become a dog. But the truth is that Abby has become a weird dog. It's true that she has many great dog-like qualities like sitting in my lap, giving kisses, doing the happy dance when I get home. But she also has some very strange qualities that I can't quite seem to figure out. A big one is her fascination with apples. This dog will dig through bags or my purse or anything that has an apple in it. And she will proceed to eat the entire un-cut apple. This dog only has a few teeth! It's absolutely bizarre that she can even eat the apple, but it's even weirder what she will do to get the apple. And I've honestly never seen a dog eat an apple the way people do. The other very odd thing that she does is going to sit in snipers crate! This is the dog that I can't crate because she screams and throws fits! But she has decided that she wants to sleep in snipers crate! Luckily he has decided that he wants to sleep on the chair, so I guess there is still plenty of room for everyone. . .
Abby is so weird and the longer I have her, the weirder she gets!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
I Need A Beer!
These dogs are a lot of work!
I thought that training Abby was exhausting because I had to maintain a very high level of energy to keep her wanting to work. I had to give 150% in order to keep her attention and focus. I had to stay on top of our surroundings to keep a look out for anything that might cause Abby to stress out or anything that might cause her to want to bolt. I had to stay happy and squeaky and had to "be the cookie". No matter what, I couldn't let her know that I was stress out or nervous or frustrated, because all that travels down the leash and Abby senses it immediately and shuts down.
Training sniper is equally exhausting, but in a totally different way. I have to maintain a calm energy so that he doesn't get overly excited. But at the same time, I have to be exciting enough to keep his focus on me and not on everything else around. I have to know when to treat with cookies and when to rile him up and let him tug. But while tugging, I still have to maintain control and make sure he doesn't go over the top. He knows how to work, and he knows how to have fun while working, but my job/goal is to make sure that he works with some self-control - a job in and of itself.
Training both kids back to back is enough to drive any trainer crazy. Both have been known to test my patience but training both back to back, I'm bound to loose it eventually! Don't get me wrong, I love training both Abby and Sniper. And I love learning and growing as a trainer. Both are teaching me things that I would never have learned otherwise. Abby has opened so many doors for me in the training world, and Sniper is helping me refine my techniques and is allowing me to have a bit more fun too. But after training both back to back, I just want to have a beer and go to bed!
I thought that training Abby was exhausting because I had to maintain a very high level of energy to keep her wanting to work. I had to give 150% in order to keep her attention and focus. I had to stay on top of our surroundings to keep a look out for anything that might cause Abby to stress out or anything that might cause her to want to bolt. I had to stay happy and squeaky and had to "be the cookie". No matter what, I couldn't let her know that I was stress out or nervous or frustrated, because all that travels down the leash and Abby senses it immediately and shuts down.
Training sniper is equally exhausting, but in a totally different way. I have to maintain a calm energy so that he doesn't get overly excited. But at the same time, I have to be exciting enough to keep his focus on me and not on everything else around. I have to know when to treat with cookies and when to rile him up and let him tug. But while tugging, I still have to maintain control and make sure he doesn't go over the top. He knows how to work, and he knows how to have fun while working, but my job/goal is to make sure that he works with some self-control - a job in and of itself.
Training both kids back to back is enough to drive any trainer crazy. Both have been known to test my patience but training both back to back, I'm bound to loose it eventually! Don't get me wrong, I love training both Abby and Sniper. And I love learning and growing as a trainer. Both are teaching me things that I would never have learned otherwise. Abby has opened so many doors for me in the training world, and Sniper is helping me refine my techniques and is allowing me to have a bit more fun too. But after training both back to back, I just want to have a beer and go to bed!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Abby RL1
Abby has a title. And by the look on my face you can see that I couldn't be happier. Who would've thought 3 years ago that this little feral dog would have a title?
While a part of me could care less if Abby ever got a title or not, another part of me wanted her to get one, just to prove that she was a "real" dog and could do anything that all those other dogs could do. I'm sure I'll have many more dogs in the future that will get many more and more extraordinary titles, but this one is extra special. This is not only the first title I have ever gotten on a dog, this is probably the most worked for title that I will ever have. I'm proud of Abby, but I'm also proud of myself for sticking with this crazy little dog and working through all the joys and all the set backs that come with training a special needs dogs.
Way to go Abby!
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