Sunday, June 10, 2007
Long time no post
It’s been some time since we last posted here - blogging is less of a priority.
I wanted to give an update on how the guys are doing - This morning, I took them out to do their business, which they did. Then they came in and head their morning kibble.
Then we went out shopping, and ended up going to some see some friends, and we didn’t make it home until 11:30pm. I was fully expecting mess in the house.
Nothing. Of course, when I ran them outside they went right away, but they didn’t do anytthing in the house. They did scoff their evening kibble down though! Buddy is now sitting in my lap while I type, as Mommy is in bed sleeping already, so they are being quiet, like good little puggies.
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Monday, March 14, 2005
Pug Training
Yesterday was week 7 at Buddy’s training class, and pretty much the last productive week ... next week is graduation, and pretty much just a play games and run over stuff session.
It’s really been a worthwhile thing to go through, and I’d recommend it for anyone with a puppy. It’s mostly not about teaching the dog, but about teaching you how to teach your dog.
Through the weeks, we have learnt how to get Buddy to St, Lay Down, Wait, Stay (yes, they are different. Wait is a short pause, and you come back, Stop is a longer pause, and you call him to you), Come. My favourite has been Leave It, although we need to work more on that one I think ... we have also tried to go through things like pulling on leashes and jumping up at people coming in the house, and neither of them I’m too worried about, as he’s only little and it’s not a big problem.
We have also covered all grooming and health problems, gotten a lot of valuable information on how to deal with a puppies teenage years, how to deal with house training ...
The trainer only deals in positive reinforcement, and it is very effective. Obviously there have been times when we had to time out our dogs, and by now we are all familiar with our startle word (a loud noise or work you yell when you need to interrupt them from doing something bad), but it’s all coupled with given them treats for things they enjoy, and it really helps. The dogs now work to please you, so they get treats and praise.
It’s helped Buddy a lot! We still have issues, he’s not completly house trained, and sometimes he gets very wound up and will do naughty things in the house (ripping up his pee pads, biting Brutus, chewing hair and stealing socks are his favourite), but with startle words, then redirecting him to a toy, he’s getting the hang of it.
He’s not going to become a perfectly trained canine good citizen any time soon, but it has helped immensly to give us the tools we need to train him as he grows.
I defenitely like the puppy class!
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Thursday, February 17, 2005
Double Trouble
Since getting Buddy, it’s done nothing but snow, and they haven’t really had the chance to get their regular around the block walks in, instead going out to the back yard.
Now it’s getting nicer again, I’ve started walking them around the block every morning and evening. It quickly became apparant that we didn’t have the tools for the job.
Leashes were a major pain. Buddy had a slightly shorter leash than Brutus, and they would get twisted up and tangled badly. Brutus’ leash would tangle up underneath them (it being longer).
So, yesterday I picked up a coupler.
The one I got was tagged as Extra Large, and seemed to be the only one that wouldn’t drag them so close together they couldn’t move.
I tried it last night and this morning, and the difference is great. I have Brutus’ long leash hooked to the coupler, so they get great range. They tend to pull each other around a little more than before, but it’s so much easier for me to control them, I’m willing to let them yank each other, rather than have someone end up in the road!
Definietly one of my favourite buys.
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Monday, January 31, 2005
Puppy Training
A couple of weeks ago we signed up for puppy training for Buddy at the local Petsmart ... we got snowed off last weekend, so it started last night.
The first session was without the dogs, just owners, and it was pretty good. A lot of the stuff she was saying was stuff we had already been doing (never say NO, or use their name when telling them off for example), and some of it seemed very basic to me, but from the looks of some of the others in the group, not to every one else.
There is one woman there, I’ll call her Jumper Lady, cos she had a horrible jumper on, who is going to be difficult. She has a “Cockapoo”, a cocker spaniel / poodle mix, and seems to think that bringing the dog to the one hour a week sessions will automatically make it well trained. She seemed quite shocked when the trainer suggested that we should carry treats, so any time they do good things, or follow a command, they can be rewarded, and you could just see her brain thinking “I’m not carrying stinky dog treats in my pocket!” She also jumped around with questions, all things that her dog does or she wants to know, instead of just shutting up and letting the instructor get to it ...
Either way, we have a couple of excercises to do this week, one being the Name Game, where you hold a treat in a clenched fist, raise it to face height, say their name once, then extend your arm out. They get the treats, along with a YES and a cuddle when they look back at you, and stop looking at the treat. The idea is to have them focus on you, not the reward, and to get them to see that their name being called is a good thing too. Buddy is good at it, he already sits very well and on command, so it’s pretty easy for him.
We also picked up two fantastic toys:
and
These things have the loudest squeekers I have every heard, and both dogs absolutely *love* them. They are quite soft, but very tough. They will squeek when they bounce even! Buddy has worked out how to pick it up by the head and chompsqueek chompsqueek chompsqueek chompsqueek, but Brutus still hasn’t worked it out. He picks it up by it’s feet, which don’t squeek, they gets all confused that it’s not making that cool noise 
Most definitely recommended toys!
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Monday, January 17, 2005
Routine pooping
We’re trying to get everyone’s routines in sync right now, it’s been a bit of a messy week 
Brutus needs to go out three times in a day. First thing in the morning, as soon as we get home, and and just before bed time.
Buddy however, hasn’t got the capacity at 4 months old to hold on all day, especially considering he gets fed twice (morning and evening), and Brutus only one (evening).
So, it’s been a balancing act, but I think we’re getting a handle on it.
He needs to go within 4 hours or so of a feed, so when we feed him in the morning, we need to come home at lunch to take them out. Same deal in the evening, he needs to go out as soon as we get home, then feed him, then take him out a bit later, and again before bed.
Days we haven’t made it home at lunch (company meetings run over lunch, as did some training last week), we’ve come home to a messy puppy cage.
Training him to go out is fun. Whenever he goes while outside he gets a lot of fuss and a treat of some sort, he thinks it’s great, and now sits at my feet for a bit, hoping for a treat, before working out he needs to earn it first.
Pugs are pretty intelligent, so he should be getting there, but they are also stubborn, so if he decides he doesn’t want to, it could get interesting 
Fortunately, he can handle all night with no mess, so he’s been in bed this last few days, which has made for an interesting puppy pile in bed!
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