Always Watching

I guess when a lot of stuff scares you, training is always important. I am really good now, for the most part. I go to my room or crate when I am upset, and I don't bark that much, and I never attack Chubbs. But I am still scared of new places and things.

So even though I am 8 years old, my mom still trains me. Last weekend, she took me to a new park to practice "watch." My mom has always taught me watch and would reward me for prolonged eye contact. But she just went to a seminar recently that suggested something new about the timing -- that you should reward as soon as the dog turns his head from whatever he is starting at. It makes sense because what you really want is just for the dog to look away from the scary thing. So my mom decided to practice this new method with me.

At first, the park was really quiet, so my only nerves were why I was in a strange place. But then, the unthinkable happened. An ice cream truck pulled up. Kids started appearing from everywhere, running and yelling for the truck. It was like they were materializing from thin air. I started to bark to try to calm them down, but it didn't work. So my mom got a really good chance to practice "watch." And I did really well after the first few seconds.

After that happened, it took me a couple of minutes to calm down and relax. Once I did, and I was doing my commands really well, we left because my mom knows to keep sessions short and always end on a good note. We were only at the park for 10 minutes. But we ended with me doing really well, so everyone was happy.

Then, Monday, I had to go to another park to see the girl who is going to watch us while Mommy is gone. I was really good then, too. I even laid down next to her. She gave me a couple of treats, but she hasn't tried to pet me yet because I don't like that, and Mommy knows to make her take it slow.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but I am so much calmer and happier now. This stuff really works!

Love, Muggsy

The Ears Have It -- Again!

The tests from my ear samples came back, and while I have a lot of bacteria in my ear, the doctor does not think I have a middle ear infection, which would require minor surgery. However, it does mean that we have to aggressively treat my ear infection with an ear saline and ear drops twice a day.

I hate having my ears touched. I will hide in my crate or under the bed. I used to try to bite my dad when he tried to put them in my ears. But now, he closes my crate and the bedroom door before he pulls out the drops, so I have no escape. And I have decided to stop biting because after he's done, I get a treat and Mom and Dad tell me how great I am.

I love this positive-reinforcement training that my mom keeps talking about on all her web sites. I respect her and do what I say and then something good happens. If I don't, I go in timeout and don't get to be with the family, but I never get hurt.

I'm glad she's getting her PhD in animal behavior and realizes that "dominance theories" are out of date. You know, in a dog pack, the "alpha" is not the one that's growling at everyone and correcting everyone. If you lose your temper and do corrections, that actually shows that you are insecure and not in control of your pack. And it makes you scary! You can be positive and still strict. Just set rules and be consistent. That's the whole secret. Try it and see.

Love, Fenway

Anger Management

Last night, I almost lost my temper with Chubbs. It's been more than a year, almost two, since I've attacked him, and I used to attack him once or twice a week, so you can see what a big accomplishment that is. Last night, I was getting pets from Mom, Chubbs pushed past me. I turned to growl at him, and Mom sent us both to our crates and made us stay there for a half hour. That's our cooling down time. It worked. I've been fine ever since.

I've been attacking Chubbs since he hit adolescence, and before my mom was a dog trainer, she didn't understand what to do. It got much worse when we moved to California and lived in a much smaller house. Then, I went from attacking him once a month to once a week. But then my mom was becoming a dog trainer, and the woman training her figured out what was going on: Chubbs was instigating and I was losing my temper.

Many people don't know that there dogs are instigating fights. Did you know that staring is considered very offensive in the dog world? It is. Chubbs would lie in the floor and stare at me until I snapped. And since he's "soo cute" (Mom's words, NOT mine), he would get away with it. My mom's trainer gave her a several things to do: punish Chubbs when he got attacked, teach me to go to a "calm down" place where Chubbs can't go, train both of us a little better so we listened better and try abandonment training.

My mom gave me several places where I could go to be away from Chubbs. I have a room in the garage, I have a crate hidden behind a bookcase so I can be alone, and she sometimes puts me in the bedroom with the door closed when I'm stressed. She started sending Chubbs to his crate every time he stared at me. And every time I got upset, I went to my crate. She handfed me my meals for a month while teaching me commands so I had to look to her for all my food. Then, once she had done all of that, she started abandonment training. Since the attacks were only happening around her, when I would attack Chubbs, she would start yelling, storm out the door, slam it behind her and drive away. This taught us that fighting got us the opposite of what we wanted. Instead of getting Mom to ourselves, she left both of us!

Combining all these things really worked. Now, when I get upset, I go to my crate or bedroom on my own. Sometimes, I still have a bad week, but we both know how to handle it. Chubbs is still the same ole jerk, but I'm better, and that's what counts!

Love, Muggsy