What is something that you did awesome at when you got your dog/puppy?
- Thread starter PWCorgi
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With Frodo, honestly, there's nothing that I did from puppyhood with him that I'm proud of. It was just a big sh*t show. I am very proud of a lot of the behavior stuff we have accomplished since then, though.
Siri's recall is one of the things I'm most proud of, overall. She isn't perfect, there are still places where she has trouble (*ahem* agility lessons *ahem*), but I think she has a darn good recall, especially for a terrier. I can't take all the credit though, Lynn put in a lot of good foundation recall work before she left there, and I continued it once she came here.
Siri's recall is one of the things I'm most proud of, overall. She isn't perfect, there are still places where she has trouble (*ahem* agility lessons *ahem*), but I think she has a darn good recall, especially for a terrier. I can't take all the credit though, Lynn put in a lot of good foundation recall work before she left there, and I continued it once she came here.
Well, when I got Meg, the most awesome thing I did was decide to keep her 
With Gusto, I'm incredibly proud of how I handled dog interactions and I'm thrilled with the results. I'm sure I started with the odds in my favor; he's a fairly nice dog in general, and his foster mom had really nice, appropriate dogs. But from the very beginning, I was careful about getting him play time with dogs that I knew were very appropriate and dogs that had varied play styles. And I tried to be very good about speaking up and NOT letting dogs who were not appropriate interact with him. He's a fabulously well balanced dog as far as dog-to-dog interactions go. He plays nicely with any dog that wants to play, and is polite and respectful if dogs ask for space. And it is so, so nice to live with that!
With Gusto, I'm incredibly proud of how I handled dog interactions and I'm thrilled with the results. I'm sure I started with the odds in my favor; he's a fairly nice dog in general, and his foster mom had really nice, appropriate dogs. But from the very beginning, I was careful about getting him play time with dogs that I knew were very appropriate and dogs that had varied play styles. And I tried to be very good about speaking up and NOT letting dogs who were not appropriate interact with him. He's a fabulously well balanced dog as far as dog-to-dog interactions go. He plays nicely with any dog that wants to play, and is polite and respectful if dogs ask for space. And it is so, so nice to live with that!
I am fantastic at housebreaking - with the exception of Lucy, because I was 14 years old and didn't put in that much effort.
But Juno started signaling to go outside at around 10 weeks old, and by the time she was 4 months old I no longer had to shadow her footsteps for housebreaking purposes - she was reliable at asking to go out, I just had to get to the door fast enough!
I'm really impressed with how I did with Cajun, for a 14 month old dog who was not housebroken and was accustomed to using her crate as the bathroom.... she was solid after 2 weeks of being here.
Otherwise I suck at most other things
But Juno started signaling to go outside at around 10 weeks old, and by the time she was 4 months old I no longer had to shadow her footsteps for housebreaking purposes - she was reliable at asking to go out, I just had to get to the door fast enough!
I'm really impressed with how I did with Cajun, for a 14 month old dog who was not housebroken and was accustomed to using her crate as the bathroom.... she was solid after 2 weeks of being here.
Otherwise I suck at most other things
My dogs are oblivious to loud noises. For neurotic, sensitive Brisbane this is a small triumph. He doesn't care about fireworks, thunderstorms, earthquakes, or military helicopters buzzing the house. I attribute this to a freak thunderstorm at 3am when he was a baby puppy, where I was able to teach him that loud noises make food rain from the sky. He has experienced maybe one thunderstorm since then, we just don't get those out here.
He also went from 'foaming-at-the-mouth-reactive' to 'meh' about joggers and people in store windows with years of careful conditioning. At the time I really had no frame of reference, but in retrospect he was an absurdly reactive baby puppy.
He also went from 'foaming-at-the-mouth-reactive' to 'meh' about joggers and people in store windows with years of careful conditioning. At the time I really had no frame of reference, but in retrospect he was an absurdly reactive baby puppy.
I am fantastic at housebreaking - with the exception of Lucy, because I was 14 years old and didn't put in that much effort.
But Juno started signaling to go outside at around 10 weeks old, and by the time she was 4 months old I no longer had to shadow her footsteps for housebreaking purposes - she was reliable at asking to go out, I just had to get to the door fast enough!
I'm really impressed with how I did with Cajun, for a 14 month old dog who was not housebroken and was accustomed to using her crate as the bathroom.... she was solid after 2 weeks of being here.
Otherwise I suck at most other things
But Juno started signaling to go outside at around 10 weeks old, and by the time she was 4 months old I no longer had to shadow her footsteps for housebreaking purposes - she was reliable at asking to go out, I just had to get to the door fast enough!
I'm really impressed with how I did with Cajun, for a 14 month old dog who was not housebroken and was accustomed to using her crate as the bathroom.... she was solid after 2 weeks of being here.
Otherwise I suck at most other things
I took him EVERYWHERE . Parks, stores, shopping, road trips, buses, football games, subway, airplanes, airports...
I made people AWESOME
as a result, Merlin is confident pretty much everywhere and loves everyone. Which I love.
Oh and I rocked house training. Merlin will NOT go indoors, and will go potty on command. Which is the most useful ****
I made people AWESOME
as a result, Merlin is confident pretty much everywhere and loves everyone. Which I love.
Oh and I rocked house training. Merlin will NOT go indoors, and will go potty on command. Which is the most useful ****
Maybe it's the dog? Brisbane has been seriously solidly housetrained since he was around four months old, I stopped crating him at night and when I left the house at 6 months and he's another dog who absolutely will not go inside unless there's something wrong. He's also creative enough to pee in the bathtub occasionally when it's been raining for a few days.
Uly is also great despite having been intact with a major tendency to mark for most of his life.
The foster puppies I've had for a week and a half have had a single accident between the two of them.
And then there's Ru. Ru has been here for four years and still doesn't get it. I'm about to get him tested for any possible urinary issues, but he still has no excuse for pooping anywhere he pleases. Not even dirty puppy syndrome, as he was never confined or crated before he got here. I honestly suspect that he's just...kind if dumb.
Uly is also great despite having been intact with a major tendency to mark for most of his life.
The foster puppies I've had for a week and a half have had a single accident between the two of them.
And then there's Ru. Ru has been here for four years and still doesn't get it. I'm about to get him tested for any possible urinary issues, but he still has no excuse for pooping anywhere he pleases. Not even dirty puppy syndrome, as he was never confined or crated before he got here. I honestly suspect that he's just...kind if dumb.
Is it weird to say I think I did a good job at the bonding aspect? Lol. Hugo bonded to me really quickly and I think it's because I always "had his back." I watched very closely for situations when he seemed uncomfortable and backed off to work up to it slowly, even though it meant being slightly rude to people at times.
Hugo kind of house trained himself. He came to us as a stray at 5 months and we took him outside every 30 minutes for the first 2 weeks (yay having no school or work!) and other than 1 horrific poopsplosion he has never gone in the house.
Probably also marking. He knows not to mark on anything man made so I can walk him downtown and he doesn't stop every block to pee on something, even when a dog has just marked there. I don't mind if he marks trees or bushes or anything, but if it's bad timing, I can call him to move on and he will.
Hugo kind of house trained himself. He came to us as a stray at 5 months and we took him outside every 30 minutes for the first 2 weeks (yay having no school or work!) and other than 1 horrific poopsplosion he has never gone in the house.
Probably also marking. He knows not to mark on anything man made so I can walk him downtown and he doesn't stop every block to pee on something, even when a dog has just marked there. I don't mind if he marks trees or bushes or anything, but if it's bad timing, I can call him to move on and he will.
I did a crap ton of socializing and taking Fable with me everywhere in the first few months of having her, and she went from being pretty shut down and scared of everything to politely greeting strangers on the street. She still cowers away from some men, but she is not nearly as scared of people (or most other things) anymore. I can have her sit on the corner of a busy road, and she will focus on me and perform commands. But when I first got her, she was super tense while out and about and would flatten to the ground if a car drove by that was particularly big, loud, and/or fast. I pushed her out of her comfort zone and desensitized her to a bunch of city noises and sights, and that is one of the best things I have ever done (or ever could do) with her.
Bite inhibition, he has very, very good bite inhibition. He's bitten people aggressively and never left a mark. It's a combo of what we did and what he did. He was the most bitey puppy I'd ever met so that allowed him to practice using those teeth a lot and then I knew not to discourage all mouthing but just hard mouthing so he learned how to alter his jaw pressure. Dad and I rough house with him regularly now to keep the practice up. Given his temperament it's likely the most important thing we ever did for him.
I got really awesome at cleaning poop from carpet.
Overall I think I did a pretty good job at teaching Ryker manners and socializing. Also we have overcome his separation anxiety, but I think the credit goes to his medication.
I've helped Gypsy come out of her shell. She's not as scared of new things and shiny floors. Also she had 0 training when I got her and now she is very good with basic commands. I haven't taught anything outside of basic OB yet.
Overall I think I did a pretty good job at teaching Ryker manners and socializing. Also we have overcome his separation anxiety, but I think the credit goes to his medication.
I've helped Gypsy come out of her shell. She's not as scared of new things and shiny floors. Also she had 0 training when I got her and now she is very good with basic commands. I haven't taught anything outside of basic OB yet.
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I think I did really great at controlling her reactivity around other dogs when Roxie first got home, out of the shelter- she was at her very worst then. It's a darn shame she got attacked after that, because she was PERFECT. Even better around other dogs than she is now, and I've been working with her constantly. Now she's a little wary of strange dogs, and does not at all like girls, but she is almost as good as she was when I first dealt with the issue.
I also did a LOT of socializing (I didn't want her to turn into another Buddy!! Buddy was horrible) and she's really rock solid. Honestly, I basically just learned from having Buddy and knew how to handle the aggression and how to do everything differently than what I did with Buddy.
I also did a LOT of socializing (I didn't want her to turn into another Buddy!! Buddy was horrible) and she's really rock solid. Honestly, I basically just learned from having Buddy and knew how to handle the aggression and how to do everything differently than what I did with Buddy.
I can't take much credit, honestly, for a lot of his character traits. He never chewed up inappropriate things, he never messed in his crate, he walks well on a leash, he rides well in the car, etc., etc.
I will say that he is fantastic for being groomed. Absolutely fantastic. He still hates his nails being done, but he lets me do them by myself whereas I think if I hadn't worked with him so much he'd probably be one of those dogs you'd have to muzzle/hold down to do. He hops in the tub for baths, holds perfectly still the entire time, lets me clean his ears out/brush him, lets me blow dry him, brush his teeth, etc., etc. All I have to do is put the slip lead on him and hold it like a handler does at a dog show (taunt, up behind the ears) and he immediately holds still and just lets me do what I need to get done.
He's also used to being contained in a room as well as in a crate, which is really nice that he was able to make that association. I worked really hard on his crate training (for him to be quiet and settled in a crate no matter what was going on) and when we were transitioning him from his crate to just being left loose all of the time, we just confined him to a small room while we were away. As a result, while we were staying with a friend and didn't' have his crate, we were able to "crate" him by shutting him up in the guest bedroom's walk in closet and he just settled and went right to sleep because being confined in a room next to ours is "normal" for him.
I will say that he is fantastic for being groomed. Absolutely fantastic. He still hates his nails being done, but he lets me do them by myself whereas I think if I hadn't worked with him so much he'd probably be one of those dogs you'd have to muzzle/hold down to do. He hops in the tub for baths, holds perfectly still the entire time, lets me clean his ears out/brush him, lets me blow dry him, brush his teeth, etc., etc. All I have to do is put the slip lead on him and hold it like a handler does at a dog show (taunt, up behind the ears) and he immediately holds still and just lets me do what I need to get done.
He's also used to being contained in a room as well as in a crate, which is really nice that he was able to make that association. I worked really hard on his crate training (for him to be quiet and settled in a crate no matter what was going on) and when we were transitioning him from his crate to just being left loose all of the time, we just confined him to a small room while we were away. As a result, while we were staying with a friend and didn't' have his crate, we were able to "crate" him by shutting him up in the guest bedroom's walk in closet and he just settled and went right to sleep because being confined in a room next to ours is "normal" for him.