Archive for the ‘Training’ Category

Animal Assisted Therapy, Hiking with the Dogs, and a New Training Goal

Whew! What a whirlwind few days! It started out on Friday with Emmett and I visiting three kindergarten classes. That means lots and lots and lots of 5- and 6-year-olds! Emmett did spectacularly, patiently sitting while 75 grubby hands patted him, giving the occasional high five, and demonstrating how easy it is for boys and [...]

Posted by Maggie on March 8th, 2010 under Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training Tags: , , ,  •  No Comments

How would you describe your dog?

So here’s a little secret: John and I talk for Emmett and Lucas. Not to them. Not about them. For them. As in… we’re emptying the dishwasher at 5:30. Emmett is sitting in front of his bowl, huffing. John will say in his Emmett voice, “Stop doing that, people. Feed me my damn dinner.” Or [...]

Posted by Maggie on March 1st, 2010 under Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training  •  8 Comments

On dogs and separation anxiety

Separation anxiety is a contentious topic. Often, what’s described as separation anxiety is simply boredom or bad manners or a combination of both. With Lucas and Emmett, while they both displayed similar behaviors when we left the house, with Emmett is was full-blown separation anxiety. With Lucas it was mostly that he was an ass. [...]

Posted by Maggie on February 25th, 2010 under Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training Tags: , , ,  •  1 Comment

Weekends and dog blogs

Coming into the weekend, all our plans have changed! We were supposed to fly into Baltimore to meet our new nephew, but we heard they’re getting a little snow, so we’re rescheduling our flights. That freed up Saturday and Sunday so we can watch the Colts win the Super Bowl while snuggling Emmett and Lucas [...]

Posted by Maggie on February 5th, 2010 under Animal Rights, Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training Tags: , ,  •  2 Comments

Playing “find it” and Lucas’ confidence conundrum

After last week’s strange temperature spike (50 degrees! in January! in southern Indiana!), we’re back down to the more typical 14-degree weather. Of course, when it gets this cold, it’s impossible to walk the dogs. I can barely stand to be outside to walk to my car, let alone around the block… and that’s when [...]

Posted by Maggie on January 29th, 2010 under Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training  •  No Comments

The end of dogsitting and how to find the right motivation!

We returned Otto to my parents this past weekend. If nothing else, the week of dogsitting followed by a 90-minute drive up north proved that if we were to adopt a third dog, we need a bigger car, even if the dog is as small as Otto.

After Otto’s visit, Lucas needed a bath. From a [...]

Posted by Maggie on January 25th, 2010 under Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training Tags: , , ,  •  1 Comment

Adventures in Dogsitting

My parents, who live about 90 minutes from us, are on vacation. So for this week, my mom’s little dog Otto is staying with us. Otto is a one-year-old bichon/shih tzu mix with the funniest little underbite. He just adores Lucas, and Lucas loves him, too, though Lucas tends to tire out long before Otto. [...]

Posted by Maggie on January 18th, 2010 under Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training Tags: ,  •  No Comments

Using the Clicker to Train “Wave Hi!”

Have you ever had a training session that just dissolves into laughter? You just have to stop working because you can’t stop laughing? Meanwhile, you dog is staring at you like you’re a raving lunatic?

I taught the boys to “wave hi” using the clicker. Since they both already knew “high five,” I started with my [...]

Posted by Maggie on January 16th, 2010 under Training Tags: , , ,  •  No Comments

Dog blog round-up and a little CGC prep

Tonight Emmett and Lucas take a practice AKC Canine Good Citizen test. I’m looking forward to it because I’m pretty sure they’re going to fail spectacularly. However, it’ll give me a really clear picture of what we need to work on before the real test a week from today. Before Emmett’s therapy dog test, I [...]

Posted by Maggie on December 7th, 2009 under Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training  •  2 Comments

Clicker training, agility, and Lucas saw his first horse!

Emmett and Lucas had a big day today. A service-dog trainer from Utah is visiting our town, and we signed the boys up for a two-day session of clicker training, agility, and advanced obedience. The training was held on a farm – the first time the boys had ever been to a farm! It was [...]

Posted by Maggie on November 24th, 2009 under Puppy Love: All about my boys, Training  •  No Comments

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes