Sit. Stay. Read.
obsessed with dogs
When you love a reactive dog, you expend an enormous amount of effort “managing” situations. It becomes second nature. I don’t even think twice about sitting in the car in the parking lot of doggy daycare waiting for everyone else to drop off ahead of us, then dashing out the moment the lot clears so …
I am mortified to even be writing this. Seriously, I am cringing with shame and embarrassment, but if I can’t talk to you guys about it… Here goes: Lucas bit someone. Or, at least, he tried to. He grazed the knee of her jeans but didn’t get her. We were out for a Saturday afternoon walk …
Let’s set the scene: It was Tuesday night around 8 pm. The warehouse where the agility classes are held was cold and dank. I was tired and grumpy, and I think that rubbed off on Cooper. We were in a bad spot already because the poor guy had the pants scared off of him when …
Cooper and I started a pre-agility class a few weeks ago. The idea for the course is to establish the foundations you need before you can really get into agility. Fool that I am, I thought we’d nail the class – after all, he’s smart and we have a great relationship. Well, it hasn’t quite …
When we adopted Lucas, it was clear he had no life experience. He was terrified of everything: plastic bags, riding in the car, bicycles, the TV, the city bus, everything. Over time, he overcame most of his fears. He became a social guy who now goes to doggy daycare and loves meeting new people. We …
Happy New Year! I’m not a big resolution maker. They always seem too grand… and too easy to break. I am, however, a huge goal setter. Every year, I set goals for all aspects of my life, including dog training goals. In honor of the new year and also because January is Train Your Dog …
Before I can get to the main point, a little back story: For the past seven months, John has been working in Louisiana. Long story short, when he finished up at the university here, I was starting cancer treatments. Since I’m a freelancer, I’ve always been on his health insurance. He needed to line up …
Have you ever read about mirror neurons? It’s a fascinating concept. Here’s the definition from Science Daily: A mirror neuron is a neuron which fires both when an animal performs an action and when the animal observes the same action performed by another (especially conspecific) animal…. These neurons have been observed in primates, including humans, and …
I’ve gotten a few emails asking about how to add a third dog to a two-dog house, so I wanted to put together a post about my experience. But I realized that I need to start out with one qualifier… Adding a third dog? Piece of cake. Adding a third dog who’s a puppy? Not …
Lucas hates the car. From the day we picked him up at the shelter – when he flattened himself into a pancake to avoid getting in the backseat – to the day he barfed into the side pockets on the door, Lucas has never, ever been good in the car. He paces. He drools. He …
Yesterday, Cooper took his first ever one-on-one class with a fab trainer. It was a make-up class from a Click-a-Trick session we missed, and it was awesome to see him flourish with that individual attention… awesome enough that I signed up for four more one-on-ones! We train a lot. Constantly, sort of. When we’re out …
I’m a week late, but we’re officially halfway through 2011. How?? It’s sort of unbelievable how fast time flies! Did you set any dog training resolutions or goals for the year? I always set tons of goals at the beginning of the year, and I try to check in on them at milestones – like halfway through …
Cooper’s energy knows no bounds. For instance, on Saturday, I took him for a long walk in the morning, he had a puppy play date at the dog park in the afternoon, our 10-year-old neighbor came and took him to play in the park in the evening, and by nightfall he was jumping all over …
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 …
Each day that the dog walkers come, they leave a little note describing their visit and what the boys were up to while I was at work. Those notes are the highlight of my day; as I’m driving home, I often wonder what the note will say. I know my guys inside and out. I …
Yesterday I missed posting! The past few weeks have been nutty, and this week it caught up with me. So I sincerely hope that everyone has been having a great week. I have some serious Facebook and Twitter catching up to do. In the meantime, I’m going to be changing things up a little bit …
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 …
