Betsy is so clever, her mummy Ruby has put so much time and effort in to training her and is a fabulous person to quiz about training tips! I've been picking her brain on house training and how to stop Dexter from bed wetting! (His own!)
Please check out their youtube channel!
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoC8Zdmp3qxKVgn5jTebCVw?feature=watch
Friday, 24 August 2012
Thursday, 23 August 2012
House Breaking, Rule Breaking, Biting and Barking!
As a new puppy owner, I'm faced with the naughty behaviour any puppy brings home with them. The four naughty bees! House breaking, breaking the rules, biting and barking! Every puppy needs to learn, and its your job to teach them the room mate code of conduct. It's just difficult to know where to begin...
A good start is an attempt at house breaking your puppy, he may have come from a farm or a barn where it was acceptable to do his number ones and twos on the floor, the mummy dog cleans up after the baby dog and a good level of hygiene is restored. Not in my house. The best start for your puppy, so they say, is to take him straight outside, plonk him down on the grass or 'chosen area for excretion' and say some magic words. Fantastic! The puppy did a wee outside! However, he still isn't potty trained. After the excitement of going to the toilet in the right place, the delicious treat, the 'Good Boy!' The high five and the special 'you went to the toilet' dance, he's just ran straight back in the house and weed once again on that delightful fur rug you brought while trekking through Ikea. Dexter thinks this might be indoor grass, so really isn't sure what he's doing wrong.
So after the many accidents inside the house, I am well equipped with an industrial sized kitchen roll, pet safe antibacterial cleaner, carpet cleaner for those bigger accidents and my strongest weapon, willpower! This willpower is soon deflated once Dexter realises how much fun he can have by catching the end of the kitchen roll in his mouth and darting off through the house, leaving behind him a rapidly unravelling stream of paper, a very frustrated owner and a trail of his own poo through my cream carpets and furry Ikea rug. He has failed obedience training for one day.
Alas, we move on, we try the newspaper and the puppy pads, dedicating a tiny square patch of his very own for a paper potty, just in case we don't make it to the garden quite in time. I turn around for a few seconds, only to realise it's not a puppy I own, but a shredder, a live shredder. Take that fraudsters! Not even I read my own post anymore!
So we are at the chewing phase, which I am told lasts quite some time and Dexter has expensive taste. What's destroyed behind door number four? My Sol Cal Sandals, the edges of the Ikea rug, the tassells on my grandmother's leopard print handbag, anything that gets posted through the door, the freshly bought and written stack of Birthday cards to post to various friends and relatives this month and a pair of knickers. Among other items I have prised from my puppy's jaws including my Blackberry and the laptop charger. So we are working on commands, 'leave it' and 'drop it'. We're getting there slowly.
Through these frequent occasions in which I have my fingers down the back of my dog's throat to fish out my desirable items, he's acquired a taste for chewing on my hands. It's not quite biting, or at least that's what I said to the rather cross parent of the neighbour child when Dexter left his tiny teeth marks on the arm of her six year old. So we are working on ignoring the bad behaviour and praising the good and we're making yet more progress!
Dexter doesn't really bark, but it made for nice alliteration. The hardest part of the naughty behaviour is the telling him off, I really don't want to raise a bad dog, or be that person people begin to avoid because their dog is unruly and obnoxious. But he is just too cute to tell off sometimes, and he's mastered the puppy eyes! My dog knows when he's in trouble, which is a good start. He skulks off to a favourite corner and looks very sad and disappointed in himself. Which only makes me feel like a terrible person for telling off such an adorable creature, and giving him cuddles and fuss until he smiles and wags his tail again.
A good start is an attempt at house breaking your puppy, he may have come from a farm or a barn where it was acceptable to do his number ones and twos on the floor, the mummy dog cleans up after the baby dog and a good level of hygiene is restored. Not in my house. The best start for your puppy, so they say, is to take him straight outside, plonk him down on the grass or 'chosen area for excretion' and say some magic words. Fantastic! The puppy did a wee outside! However, he still isn't potty trained. After the excitement of going to the toilet in the right place, the delicious treat, the 'Good Boy!' The high five and the special 'you went to the toilet' dance, he's just ran straight back in the house and weed once again on that delightful fur rug you brought while trekking through Ikea. Dexter thinks this might be indoor grass, so really isn't sure what he's doing wrong.
So after the many accidents inside the house, I am well equipped with an industrial sized kitchen roll, pet safe antibacterial cleaner, carpet cleaner for those bigger accidents and my strongest weapon, willpower! This willpower is soon deflated once Dexter realises how much fun he can have by catching the end of the kitchen roll in his mouth and darting off through the house, leaving behind him a rapidly unravelling stream of paper, a very frustrated owner and a trail of his own poo through my cream carpets and furry Ikea rug. He has failed obedience training for one day.
Alas, we move on, we try the newspaper and the puppy pads, dedicating a tiny square patch of his very own for a paper potty, just in case we don't make it to the garden quite in time. I turn around for a few seconds, only to realise it's not a puppy I own, but a shredder, a live shredder. Take that fraudsters! Not even I read my own post anymore!
So we are at the chewing phase, which I am told lasts quite some time and Dexter has expensive taste. What's destroyed behind door number four? My Sol Cal Sandals, the edges of the Ikea rug, the tassells on my grandmother's leopard print handbag, anything that gets posted through the door, the freshly bought and written stack of Birthday cards to post to various friends and relatives this month and a pair of knickers. Among other items I have prised from my puppy's jaws including my Blackberry and the laptop charger. So we are working on commands, 'leave it' and 'drop it'. We're getting there slowly.
Through these frequent occasions in which I have my fingers down the back of my dog's throat to fish out my desirable items, he's acquired a taste for chewing on my hands. It's not quite biting, or at least that's what I said to the rather cross parent of the neighbour child when Dexter left his tiny teeth marks on the arm of her six year old. So we are working on ignoring the bad behaviour and praising the good and we're making yet more progress!
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| Dexter chewing what he is supposed to chew! |
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| My sister sent me a very apt link today! |
Meet My Gorgeous Chocolate Lab Puppy Dexter!
We hope to share many of our adventures with you!
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Why Humans Have Dogs
We humans love our dogs, in fact, according to recent studies, we adore our dogs so much we spend a staggering £17,000 on them over their lifetime.This includes buying top of the range foods and treats, spoiling them with designer leads, glitzy collars, food bowls and a bed in competition for comfort with our own! This also includes the vet bills, pet insurance, flea and worm treatments and grooming.
With the costs of owning a pet rising and the entire world pulling in the purse strings, why do we do it?
In short, we love them.
There's nothing quite like the love and companionship you receive from your dog, they are loyal friends in life and what's more, they won't leave you for their secretary or tell you things just aren't working out. Not to sound like an aggrieved spinster, but the concept works. It works for both men and women, our beloved, tail wagging friends are always there for us, waiting to greet you first thing in the morning and after a tough day at work. You can tell your dog all about your day, have a moan about a co-worker or family member and he will never take the other side or tell you you're wrong, ever.
With the costs of owning a pet rising and the entire world pulling in the purse strings, why do we do it?
In short, we love them.
There's nothing quite like the love and companionship you receive from your dog, they are loyal friends in life and what's more, they won't leave you for their secretary or tell you things just aren't working out. Not to sound like an aggrieved spinster, but the concept works. It works for both men and women, our beloved, tail wagging friends are always there for us, waiting to greet you first thing in the morning and after a tough day at work. You can tell your dog all about your day, have a moan about a co-worker or family member and he will never take the other side or tell you you're wrong, ever.
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