Okay, cobwebs are forming here. Let's dust things off a bit. Even if no one even reads this anymore, it's still been an invaluable resource to refer back to over the years, so I really need to get back on it.
We took a trip to Europe, which was great, but I'll get back to that eventually. As for now, the big news is a new pup in our life!
His name is Hamish, and we got him via Pet Rescue, though they were calling him Roger at his foster home. We think he's painfully cute. He's smart and funny and has lots of personality, but is still rather laid back, especially compared to Laika. He's different in several other ways to Laika too. We're still trying to figure out all his quirks but we like him a whole lot.
We decided to sign him (and us) up for obedience classes, just to be sure we could take him out to cafes and such. We had the first class on Saturday (my birthday). The instructor was good, but strict. So far the biggest result is a lot of stress in our household -- it's hard to be strict and you can bet Hamish isn't a fan either. We're wondering whether we want to even pursue this route. I mean, the instructor was able to get instant results with Hamish (even when we couldn't) but will we still like the dog that he becomes? Or are we just being soft because we don't want to dole out punishment to our cute little doggy? The whole thing is just not a lot of fun.
Since the class yesterday we've been defying our instructor a bit. We've found we've gotten better results with a little bit of sugar anyway instead of the hard line approach. Or maybe that's just us being manipulated. The instructor did say that Hamish is smart and is going to be a handful to train.
Some more pictures!
4 comments:
Strict? Punishments? Oh, no, that's not the kind of dog training you want. Do you get Animal Planet shows out there? Martha Jr. and I are HUGE fans of "It's Me or the Dog" and her positive training techniques. Her approach is if the dog is engaging in a behavior you don't like you teach a competing good behavior. She also uses removal/time outs (very short ones; the dogs don't get long time outs) and taking away attention. Here's a link: http://positively.com/ We are so lucky to have a trainer in our area that uses her techniques! Apparently there are only 30 something trainers Victoria herself has certified, but I bet there are others out there using her methods. Also- I'm reading "Inside of a Dog" which isn't a training manual but is a FASCINATING read about how dogs work. How they think, what they hear and see, how they see us, and so forth. Amazing.
I still see the blog daily. It's one third of my home page.
So cute!
Kim, I had only heard rumors of that school of thought on dog training but I'd love to find a place that does it down here. It would be happier times for all. Not that Hamish does much bad anymore, but there's a few things we wouldn't mind correcting.
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