tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46228410491053127612024-03-13T05:40:28.015-06:00The Dog Trainer's BabyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-662974249973451272011-01-03T12:18:00.006-06:002011-01-03T12:52:30.764-06:00Remember what you say...Yesterday was cold here in Wisconsin. It is, after all, January. But we'd just had a big melt and my usual walking path was largely uncovered after a month of thick snow and ice. My dogs were glued to my side - I couldn't take a step without one in front of me and one behind. Usually it's only one being pushy at a time unless it's meal time and it wasn't. Then I remembered that after the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-83006485165743862112010-12-29T16:26:00.002-06:002010-12-29T16:27:51.171-06:00Quick Tip #2 - YellingIf you're yelling, you've already lost control of the situation. That's not good, IMO. (And I seem to yell a lot. I'm trying to cut down.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-28886497624165248342010-12-27T09:27:00.002-06:002010-12-27T09:30:28.331-06:00Quick tip - Attention seeking and givingWith the arrival of both baby Wiggle in November and Sprout's terrible twos, time is limited so I'm going to try keeping up with just some quick tips.Quick Tip #1 - Taking time to spend one on one time with dogs or children can make your life easier.When the dogs or children are driving me nuts I have to stop and think about the last time I gave them all my attention. Usually it's been a little Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-23187617360890331642010-12-27T09:17:00.000-06:002010-12-27T09:18:10.949-06:00Cats and Babies Bringing Home Baby The Cat Edition Go through the owner surrender cards at any shelter or rescue or look through a classifieds section and you will see a sad number of cats being given up because of a new baby. Sometimes it is an automatic response. For years old wives' tales told of cats sucking the breath from children and passing dangerous diseases around. Modern times have shown us Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-56533305837561888482010-12-27T09:15:00.000-06:002010-12-27T09:16:48.360-06:00List of Resources for Baby Friendly Dog StuffBaby sounds CD: http://www.soundsofbaby.com/ Websites and Online resources: http://dogtrainersbaby.blogspot.com/- one dog trainer's blog comparing raising her daughter to how she trains her dogs. www.ourdogsonline.com – a very supportive community with good advice about dog training, care, nutrition, etc. www.sitstay.com, amazon.com, www.cleanrun.com, www.planetdog.com – just a few places Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-19676869551917405762010-12-27T09:12:00.002-06:002010-12-27T09:15:06.377-06:00Don't Forget Fido!The next few posts will be things that I've written in the past and can never find on my computer when I need them. So here they are!This list was compiled while I was confined to bed rest at the end of my first pregnancy.My poor dog Cousteau didn’t know what to make of his mom not getting off the couch orout of bed. I had been his primary source of fun and mental stimulation and now I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-52311375252734314402010-08-21T19:42:00.006-06:002010-08-21T20:16:02.131-06:00The Great Flood (of Stimulus)Today our family had a chance to go to see a USF2000 race. My father-in-law works for the series owners and we were able to get VIP passes and watch the action from the pits. You would think that since one of Bug's all time favorite movies is Cars that this would be the best day of her life. Unfortunately Bug is also noise sensitive, so what should have been lots of fun for her turned out to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-14437430610239899902010-08-08T07:37:00.002-06:002010-08-08T08:07:06.715-06:00Patience...is a virtue......and of course I want to be virtuous. Usually. But patience is not easy to come by. Sometimes we just don't have a choice.When Havana was a puppy, I'd already been a professional dog trainer for about 4 years. I was doing everything "right" - puppy classes, careful socialization, relationship building, etc. We were enrolled in puppy class where I work and it was a lot of fun, although Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-59870982692768379602010-08-06T11:01:00.002-06:002010-08-06T11:21:39.395-06:00Being PreparedIn all of my research on helping kids and dogs get along, one of the most important things is to get dogs used to the physical changes around the house as soon as possible. I always recommend:Figure out where baby furniture will live and put it there ASAP. If you can't do that just yet, at least move any dog beds or other furniture that will need to be moved.If the dog will no longer be allowedUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-78265048947466957312010-07-31T18:12:00.003-06:002010-07-31T18:25:37.579-06:00Sometimes it does directly relate...I always tell my puppy class students that the first time I was taught "look" (the dog looks up at my face on my command), I seriously thought my teacher ran out of things to show us that night. Now it is one of the commands I use the most, especially when we're out in public. Having your dog look at you on cue is just so darned handy, even if it takes a little effort to teach. When your dog Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-2254399376663103212010-07-27T20:08:00.002-06:002010-07-27T20:42:33.488-06:00Who did that?!Today in my scatterbrained way, I forgot to close the gate to the girls' bedrooms. When I went to put Sprout down for her nap, I was greeted with an upended diaper bin and pieces of dirty diaper all over the floor. (Thankfully we do cloth diapers so the worst of the nastiness has been flushed and dirty diapers are largely inaccessible to the dogs.) Even though I knew it was my fault, I called Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-77848168979977207932010-06-25T07:28:00.002-06:002010-06-25T08:04:48.853-06:00Word AssociationsMy little Sprout said her first sentence last night. It was only two words, but it was still a sentence. She said "BE QUIET!!!" when the dogs were barking. Or it might have been "PUPPY QUIET!" Either way it had a subject and a verb and according to 4th grade grammar, that's a complete sentence. Maybe a better question is why on Earth did she choose to scold the dogs as her first sentence Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-8952792858645104262010-06-23T08:22:00.002-06:002010-06-23T08:32:06.310-06:00Why so quiet?I don't really want to think about how long it's been since my last post. Sprout is now almost 18 months old. Bug will be starting Kindergarten in a few short months. And oh yeah, I'm 19 weeks pregnant with a baby Bug has named "Wiggle". And wiggle s/he does! So humans and canines alike have been neglected while I struggle with nausea and exhaustion. Agility with Havana was not particularlyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-48259093472928459692010-06-23T08:21:00.000-06:002010-06-23T08:22:41.415-06:00My Collie, My KidThis was originally posted at www.ourdogsonline.com - a wonderful online resource that I encourage everyone to check out....I think Bug and Havana are psychically linked. And not in a good "Go save Timmy, Lassie!" way. I sat through a painful ballet class with Bug. Her inner collie was hanging out for all the world to see. -Initially so excited she couldn't shut up. (Bark much?)-Had to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-10865083651267681092010-06-23T08:16:00.002-06:002010-06-23T08:21:00.039-06:00New Policy on CommentsI am pretty new to the whole blogging thing, so I'm not entirely sure how to handle comments. I love that people are reading my blog (and maybe I'll make that effort to keep up with it better!). On the other hand, I'm embarrassingly American - I am only fluent in reading and writing English. Some days even that's questionable. So I have decided that I will only consider approving comments Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-68352960591468997282009-06-08T10:32:00.002-06:002009-06-08T10:52:25.669-06:00Accepting What IsI greatly dislike puppies. Don't get me wrong, they are adorable and fun...when they belong to someone else. I love teaching puppy class because for one hour a week I can be surrounded by puppies and then they all go home to poop on someone else's floor and chew on someone else's stuff. I think I've mentioned before that I really like adolescent dogs because they're learning sponges with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-34203692066672629892009-06-07T21:27:00.002-06:002009-06-07T21:55:03.065-06:00Busy Little BeesIt's been a good 9 months since my last post. Pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn/pre-schooler rearing will do that to a gal. Now that life has returned to it's new normal, at least for a little bit, I hope to be better about posting.I added Havana, my now 3 year old smooth collie, to my life knowing that she was a working dog who needed a job. I figured that wouldn't be a problem. (Oh how Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-38069946227088959942008-09-16T05:43:00.002-06:002008-09-16T06:24:36.070-06:00Playtime Gals!The cairn terrier I had growing up never really had a chance to be around other dogs. She was friendly enough, but my family just never knew other dogs to put her with. Cousteau liked to play with other dogs when he was younger, but he was never really appropriate with them. His misread or ignored other dogs' signals and was generally more of a pain in the butt than a good playmate. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-17845771667251372262008-09-08T18:33:00.002-06:002008-09-08T19:50:07.401-06:00Work Smarter, Not HarderI have an interesting puppy class this session. Out of 10 dogs, all but one is a sporting/gun dog and the one that isn't is a standard poodle mix, so I figure that's about the same thing. Can you imagine the energy level of even 8 of these puppies in one room?! Oh, did I mention that at least 3 of them have a future in field work.Don't get me wrong, the puppies are great and the owners are Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-12067474015040727152008-08-14T06:35:00.003-06:002008-09-08T18:33:24.815-06:00You (don't) gotta fight, for the right....In my puppy classes I teach the humans that they have the right to control who interacts with their dogs and how they do it. They need to realize that their puppies rely on them and if they think the puppy will be overwhelmed by a person or situation it is their responsibility to help the puppy through it and get the heck out. One of the most common, and potentially most damaging, situations isUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-51119218428068315582008-07-31T06:30:00.005-06:002008-08-13T05:48:57.724-06:00Competitive NotionsBug recently celebrated her third birthday. She was fortunate to get many wonderful gifts, including Hi-Ho Cherry Oh and Go Fish. Bug loves playing these games - probably because she gets the adult's undivided attention while we play.I am not a fan of a society who protects our children from competition. I feel that propping kids up by not keeping score at their sporting events, eliminating Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-27979732749072448372008-07-31T06:10:00.003-06:002008-07-31T06:27:36.286-06:00They are what they are...It's been quite a while since my last post - roughly 3.5 months. I've had the will, but not the energy to post since I found out I was pregnant a few days after the last time I was here. This is wonderful news - we're very excited, but I've also been pretty sick and miserable for 3.5 months. :P But this brings me to the point of this post - kids and dogs are what they are.I distinctly rememberUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-76884063947138580462008-05-01T08:25:00.001-06:002008-05-01T08:27:19.052-06:00Little pitchers have big ears...Raggzz, the cairn terrier we had growing up, wasn't necessarily the smartest dog on the planet. She wasn't dumb, but she wasn't above average. Well, she was the cutest darn cairn terrier ever born, but that had nothing to do with her brain power. However, despite a complete lack of training she managed to learn what “eat”, “walk”, and “bath” meant. In fact, we even switched the words around aUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-88010618113041427542008-05-01T08:13:00.001-06:002008-05-01T08:14:48.770-06:00Why?When Cousteau was about a year old, he decided to venture into the open door of our 110 year old house's cellar. That's not so surprising, but was amazing is that with all of the stuff down there for him to get into – hoses, gardening equipment, paint supplies, litter box, packing materials, etc. - he chose to find a chunk of rat poison laid down by the house's previous owners (something we wereUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4622841049105312761.post-55000096395018345202008-03-12T20:42:00.002-06:002008-03-12T20:43:45.217-06:00Figthing FearsI have a toddler and a collie – I know a little bit about dealing with fears and phobias that pop up at random and I think I'm getting pretty good at working through these situations effectively. Conditioned Emotional Response or CER – classical conditioning forming an emotional reaction between a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus. We often deal with fearful responses and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0