PAWS ACROSS BORDERS- Dog Rescue
"Lupa!"
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March 16, 2010: Blog entry #1: Lupa
Well, here I am, Dan Ross, a.k.a. Dan the Dogfather, a.k.a. Dan the Dogtrainer, a.k.a. the crazy dog guy. Upon the urging of several clients, I have decided to start a blog. I figure the best way about talking about training, and the keys to success, are to cover an individual dog, their behaviours, and the ways I go about training them. I will eventually have a comment board up, so for now, questions, problems, or concerns can be addressed to my email at dan_ian_ross@yahoo.com
I'd like to begin this blog talking about my recent adoptee, Lupa. Lupa, a 5-year old Shepherd/Husky mix, came up from Georgia, and it was love at first sight. I picked her up at the SPCA here, which is where she had to spend the night, since I couldn't grab her until the day after she arrived. She came out of the SPCA, gave me a friendly hello, and jumped in my car, which at the time had a used Papazon chair tied to the top with 100 ft of rope. Great deal from someone moving... came with a footrest and everything for only 50 bucks! So, I buy old chairs for my dogs? Yep... but I digress. I got Lupa home and started working with her shortly thereafter. Good news: no real aggression issues, quiet, cat/people/dog friendly. Bad News: Not housebroken, terrible listener.
It is always nice to get a quiet dog in. So many dogs have separation anxiety, or bark at the slightest noise. You want a dog to alert you, but barking at nothing quickly becomes annoying and when you have them in your house, one can go a little loopy. She paced for the first few days when she was up in my quarters, and for not being inside a house very often in her old life, she did pretty well. At least she isn't scared of silly things like the microwave.
Lupa is a fairly submissive dog; she'll stick up for herself with other dogs, but is very submissive with me. Odds are that she got in big trouble in her old life, as her natural defence is rolling over and covering her face with her front paws. Cute, but when you want her to do work, not the most ideal position to be in.
"Lupa, starting to think she is in trouble."
Housebreaking... well, it is a work in progress. She definitely was an outside dog in her old life, as she has no qualms about squatting and peeing right in front of me. No poos at all, which is good. She is very clean when she has to be in her kennel, but she does not indicate that she has to go out. This is not uncommon regardless of whether it is a puppy or a 5 year old rescue dog that has never been in a house.
The key with her is water regulation. Lupa is a water glutton, and as such, she tends to pee a lot. I give her 10 seconds to drink, and then I cut her off. She has been doing really well the past few weeks, although she did have an accident today, but I was on the phone getting beef organs lined up to make organ jerky for the dogs (available soon! Grass-fed cows, local, and hormone free.), so it is my fault. When catching a dog in the act, there are many trainers that suggest to ignore it and then take the dog outside. Sooo... a dog pees in the house, you watch, then it gets a walk outside? Remember, the dog needs to learn what is right and what is wrong. NEVER rub the dog's nose in it, but a loud clap, a strong verbal correction and then immediately take her out so she can finish outside. When she pees outside, immediately praise her in an excited tone, "Good girl! Good pee!" By making things very black and white, you can teach a dog not to do any bad behaviour and using encouragement teach a dog desired behaviours. The keys to successful housebreaking are vigilance and routine. Pay attention to a dog's body language, and get them on a regular food/water/going out routine, and you should be able to set your watch by when they have to go out. Many dogs will pace, whine, sit near the door, but others will have no real signs. Being proactive allows the owner to anticipate when a dog has to go out. Remember, if a dog just woke up from a nap, just got a huge drink of water, or just got done playing around, it is going to have to go out fairly soon.
Lupa and obedience is frustrating for me personally a bit. It has been a long time since I had to train MY dog. I train other dogs all day, at their homes, but for a dog in my own home, I have taken for granted the status quo that exists with Magnus, Molly and myself. I have had to really be encouraging with Lupa, as she is easily offended, but quick to run if she thinks she is in trouble. She is the type of dog who performs perfectly on-lead, but the second I take the lead off, away she runs. There are many of you that have dogs like that. The easy answer in dealing with a dog like this is keeping her on-lead or close at all times. Make a lot of eye contact, a lot of interaction and keep her watching you. Daily workout routines on a long lead, ending with a fun session of tennis ball is getting her to really want to please me. Getting a dog to listen off-lead is all about trust and respect.
That is it for my first blog entry. I'll try to post weekly, as I always have training stories with different dogs, and they can be a good learning experience for us all. I'll keep y'all updated on Lupa, too;)
Website created in December, 2004. Produced and Maintained by Dan Ross - updated January 2010
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Check out my Blog! Everything from tips to training and tales from the K-9 crowd
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#1: Intro/Lupa
#2: Introducing a new dog into the house
#3: Housebreaking
#5: Having a Baby