If you don't know already I'm a huge dog person and I love Coca-Cola stuff too. And the other day I decided, "Why not combined the two together?" So I did. Believe it or not, it was really hard to get the picture I wanted. Because I had to keep Rooney concentrated on me and nothing else, AND I had to have my brother take the picture at the right angle.
Now Rooney, being a puppy, got distracted....by everything. But I was finally able to get him to sit, in one place, and not move a muscle until a few pictures were taken.
Once we were done taking the pictures, of cousre, Rooney just sat there. In that one spot. Wouldn't even move for food. Guess he wants to be a model. I mean, who knows, he might just be the next poster pup for Coke... ;)
Now we all know someone, live next door to someone, or we are someone who has a dog. I mean lets face the facts, dogs and humans have been together for thousands of years, and it's not changing anytime soon.
I'm making this blog from an obsevation stand piont, not saying anyone is wrong or right.
With that said; do you have a friend, neighbor, or someone who has a dog that they keep in the backyard or house? I've notice there are many people in my neighborhood who keep their four-legged friends outside in the backyard. I'm not gonna lie, my dogs [Scamp and Rooney] stay outside too. But my neighbors don't tend to walk their dogs. Now a good percent of the people who live here are elderly, and some of them just can't take a Chow mix on a walk the way they could a Chihuahua. And some of the neighbors have health problems too. Now the others, here, are families. For example, there's this one family, a few years back they got a puppy. They would take their new puppy on walks all the time; now that the dog has lost it's cute puppy stage and it stays in the backyard, getting walks every six months or so.
Then there are the house dog people I know. I know people who have dogs that only come out on a leash, never get to roam freely outside. Yes, I do understand that fencing is not allowed in some neighborhoods, some find electic fencing inhumane, others can't afford to have a fence put up, or when living in an apartment you don't even have a yard! But personally, once again this is my opinion, most people have computers, smart phones, iPads, whatever, so they can Google local dog parks, or even ask their friends who have fenced properties if they can bring their pooch next time they visit.
So yeah, that's just something that I notice with many different people. However, I do want to point out, that running around the backyard or going on a poop walk is not enough exrcise for any dog. Hour long walks daily (with your pup by your side) are easy on you and the dog.
(PS: Whenever your dog is pulling you and you're pulling back, A - you're both working against each other. And B - the walk feels longer than it really is. Trust me, I know.)
Well, I guess I should have been expecting it...but I still didn't want to. The other day my neighbors had their dog put down.
Why? Because she was "aggressive" and, supposedly, had some kind of brain problem. True or not, I don't know. But I can tell you, for the most part, this dog wasn't aggressive. At least, not around me. Now yes, she did get in fights with the other dog they had, BUT the owners, knowing she was aggressive towards other female dogs, brought the second dog home anyway.
They had this dog for eleven-ish years or so. And to just waste her like that? Unreal.
That aggression they were experiencing could have been fixed if they just took the dog on walks (which it hardly ever got) and showed her who the boss was. For example, if she ever gave a low growl and showed her teeth to the other dog, instead of screaming at the top of their lungs at the dog, they could have snapped her out of it. Screaming just caused all the fights they had.
This dog was clearly dominant over the other dog they had. The owners never saw the small signs, just the fights. A few years back, I was with their dogs and the older dog had her ears forward, tail up, body stiff and higher than the other dog. Her eyes were locked in on the dog. I told the owner, "This is gonna cause a fight." and told them it would be best to remove her. Did they listen? No. Next thing you know the dogs broke out into a fight.
If they just knew how to control her, provided her the proper excercise and discipline she needed, and looked for the small signs of dominance, they would still have this dog.
This is the reason I want to help my friends with dominant dogs. Because I don't want to see them give their dog away, lose it to animal control, or worse, have it put down. I know I would want help if I ever needed it...
Almost everyday I take Scamp and Rooney for a walk down in the woods behind our neighborhood. Here lately the kids (and even adults) that live next to the woods have become...well...trashy.
Everywhere you look, garbage. There are balloons hanging from trees, bottles, milk and orange juice cartons, posters on the ground, and even boards with rusty nails sticking out of them laying right next to the trail. And they use this stuff to shoot at. Do their parents say, "Be sure to clean it all up." you ask? More than likely not, they probably encourage it. Not to mention the people across the street from them are cutting down trees not on their property.
This really makes me mad. I've lived here practically all my life, and these people feel they can come in and do whatever. If they keep this up, there will be nowhere for me and my dogs to go for walks other than on pavement. And that's not fun. They're dogs, dogs like to walk around and smell things. And I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want my dogs (or me) to step on a rusty nail buried under leaves.
And the tree cutters, have set up a deer stand down by the creek. First of all there are no deer in these woods, and if there are, they're just passing through. And right under their stand, in the creek, is garbage.
This is just so aggravating, no one cares anymore...
Today, like any other, I was working with Scamp and Rooney and taking pictures of them. And when I was going through the photos I picked out pictures I thought showed Scamp and Rooney's personalities. So here are their bios...
Scamp
Rooney
My second dog, Rooney, is a German Shepherd, (possibly) sheltie mix. Who was also born in May, on the 8th of 2010. He is all energy. He's always moving, can't sit still...at all. So getting that picture you see, was one of a hand full where he was sitting still. For, like, 5 seconds. Anyways, Rooney is a smart puppy. Because of his high energy and high level of excitement, he gets easily distracted, therefore it takes time to train him. But little Rooney has learned a few things, he knows the basic sit, down, come, and stay. I'm always working with him, trying to burn off all that energy he has, which is gonna take a long time. But on the plus side of have Rooney around, he has helped Scamp lose weight. And Scamp has helped train Rooney.
So there's a little bit about my dogs, and I'll keep posting as long as they keep learning!
I'm always working on training my dogs, even with commands they already know, so that way I am able to give the command once and they do it.
Well, crate training for my dogs isn't as important as it is for other dogs, simply because Scamp and Rooney live outside and don't have to be crated when we leave or go to bed at night. However, it is very important for transportation. Because, as we all know, dogs should never roam around a truck bed while driving 45 mph down a road. Not safe.
Between the two of my dogs, Scamp is more crate trained than Rooney. If you give the command "crate/in" he goes in, no problem. I still work with him on it, even though he knows the command, I want him to know it in different situations. Example being, if I have him in a room with strangers and the crate is on the opposite side of the room. I want to be able to tell him to "crate" and he goes into it and stays until I say otherwise, without getting distracted either.
Now Rooney, on the other hand, will not just go into the crate on command. He knows the command and what it means (a little).
I've tried coaxing him with treats and the whole baby voice routine, but that doesn't help...at all. I've also tried just picking him up and putting him in too. But that has no effect either. What I have found that works, is a combination of both. I'll toss a few treats in the back, and as he goes in halfway, I block him from backing out. I don't shove him in, just sit there, quietly, moving up occasionally so he doesn't get any ideas that I'm backing down. Once he walks all the way into the crate, and turns around, I block the door with my body, I don't shut the crate door. I sit there, without saying a word, and wait for him to sit down on his own. With no commands given. Once he sits, he gets a reward. Then he will be able to put it together, "if I go in here and sit down, I'll get a treat."
And once he becomes comfortable going into the crate, I'll work in the "crate" command.
As of right now, Rooney will go into the crate with no problems, but we are still working on putting the word "crate/in" into the training. And Scamp is learning the command from a short distance, hoping to go further soon.
I was playing around in photoshop and made this. I'm just gonna say this is the "project DOG logo." After all, photoshop was giving me the hardest time ever. And not to mention I didn't have a silhouette picture of Rooney, like I did Scamp, and the only full body picture of Rooney I had was of him in the woods. Not a good combination, black/brown/tan dog plus leaves. Thankfully there was some snow on the ground, made a little more easy...a little.
And after all the trouble photoshop was giving me, I started thinking, this blog is gonna be all about dogs (not that it wasn't before). Ok, maybe the occasional concert story too. But mostly about me and my dogs, and other dogs we, I, know too.
If you don't know already I'm a huge dog person and I love Coca-Cola stuff too. And the other day I decided, "Why not combined the two together?" So I did. Believe it or not, it was really hard to get the picture I wanted. Because I had to keep Rooney concentrated on me and nothing else, AND I had to have my brother take the picture at the right angle.
