Sit. Stay. Read.
obsessed with dogs
On Saturday morning, I took Cooper for a long, leisurely walk through our neighborhood, down along a local trail, and the looong way home. We were walking through an undeveloped section where empty lots are overgrown with two-foot-high weeds. When we moved here in 2008, these lots were supposed to become homes. After the housing …
Today, we’re switching our cable, internet, and phone service provider. The tech is supposed to be here soon (I mean, the huge window of time they give starts soon), and I’m a little terrified that something is going to go wrong. Sigh. But we’ll be disconnected for a big part of the day. And, of …
Some days, I get frustrated with the boys. After five awesome walks, Lucas lunges and snaps at another dog on that sixth walk. While I take two minutes to empty the dishwasher, Cooper crawls under the bed to shred the bottom of our mattress. Emmett decides to drag me across a conference room where we’re …
Here’s Emmett wearing his “working” bandana, gazing out the window, probably celebrating the fact that he PASSED HIS TEST!! Wahoo! One of my dog training goals for the year was for Emmett to re-certify as a therapy dog through the Delta Society. And as of yesterday, mission accomplished! Looking back over the list of goals, …
Dog training so often is a set up. I grab a bag of training treats and the clicker, and the boys know it’s training time. While it’s great to get any work in, when I set them up to know, “Oh, it’s training time,” they tend to be on their best behavior. So last Saturday, …
I am a worrier. I also have a wildly overactive imagination. The imagining thing serves me well in my job, but – combined with the worrying – it’s an epic fail when it comes to dog training. This past weekend, Cooper was invited to a doggy play date at this really peaceful park out in …
Oh, the weather outside is frightful! We’ve been stuck indoors with snow, ice, and temperatures below freezing. It’s supposed to warm up to the low 30s today (fingers crossed!), but finding ways to keep the dogs busy and exercised in the house has been challenging. We’ve had to get creative! OhMyDogBlog.com is a participant in …
You already know that owning a pet can make a person less-stressed out, calmer, and less lonely. Now think of the place in your life where you experience the most stressful and frustrating situations… I’ll give you a hint, it has three walls made out of cloth. Yep, it’s a cubicle! Even if you don’t …
When we lived in DC, Emmett and Lucas had very busy social lives. They went to the park for 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the evening. We took them to Petsmart or to friends’ houses for puppy play dates on the weekends. They went to a doggy birthday party with all …
Can you believe it’s almost May? I don’t know where this year has gone, though I’m so happy to finally have the windows in our house open. It was time to bring in a little fresh air! You know that old saying (I think it was supposed to be about children): Give ’em an inch, …
Last week, Emmett worked as a therapy dog at a city-sponsored expo on volunteering, a children’s program at a residential hospital, and as a reading partner at the public library. By the time we got to the library on Saturday, he was wiped out and spend his “shift” dozing with his head in the kids’ …
As I wrote earlier in the week, we’re having some trouble with self-rewarding behaviors. With Emmett it’s the counter-surfing, and we’re working out the technology to do a little Skype-scare with him. In the meantime, we have a similar, but totally different, situation with Lucas. As far as Lucas is concerned, nothing bad has happened …
Emmett and Lucas do wonderfully with the clicker. Emmett has been able to learn a number of tricks, and we’ve overcome a lot of Lucas’ troublesome behaviors using the clicker and slices of American cheese. But, unfortunately, both boys have a couple of very troublesome behaviors that the clicker has not been able to address… …
Emmett has an extremely solid default sit. Early on, we taught him to sit at the door, sit for his food, sit for a treat, sit, sit, sit. It’s a wonderful default behavior. It’s reliable to the extent that when he’s out doing his therapy work, I can count on him having his butt parked …
This is Stanley: Stanley is utterly adorable. He’s also very, very small. Here’s Stanley next to Lucas: He spent the day with us yesterday. Little Stanley is only 8 pounds, literally 1/10th the size of Lucas. It was a great day for the boys to have a new little buddy to play with. Mostly Lucas …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Yesterday, Emmett and I volunteered at Girl Power, an event designed to promote leadership and self-esteem in grils age 9 to 14. Our booth focused on responsible pet care and animal advocacy. It was an awesome event, and I was incredibly impressed with all the girls who stopped by our booth. In addition to Emmett, …
