[Mmm, stinky]
[My foot~]Emily also plants her fuzzy butt on Mommy's stomach. Yes, when your dog climbs up to sit on you, it's dominance. Mommy knows. Mommy also knows that Emily's only 10 pounds. Much good dominance will do you, shrimp.
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Footsie
Emily finds the best places to hang out.
[Mmm, stinky]
[My foot~]
Emily also plants her fuzzy butt on Mommy's stomach. Yes, when your dog climbs up to sit on you, it's dominance. Mommy knows. Mommy also knows that Emily's only 10 pounds. Much good dominance will do you, shrimp.
[Mmm, stinky][My foot~]Emily also plants her fuzzy butt on Mommy's stomach. Yes, when your dog climbs up to sit on you, it's dominance. Mommy knows. Mommy also knows that Emily's only 10 pounds. Much good dominance will do you, shrimp.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Come, Sit, and Down
After months of dog class, Emily follows the basic commands enthusiastically: Come, Sit, and Down
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tea, chocolate, and theobromine
[Emily sits for toast]M. seriously disapproves of feeding Emily anything from the table.
H., foolishly, is taken in by that fuzzy face. Ooops.
Last night, we were drowsily digesting Thai food when Emily turned the corner of the kitchen and emerged with her nose stuck in a small paper bag.
DARJEELING BLOSSOM!!! Not tea leaves!!!
Luckily, it was mostly empty and we took the bag away. But she must have eaten a bit of dried tea leaves. Starting at midnight, and on and on all through the night, Emily FRAPPED. At 1am, at 4 am, at 7 am. Crazy dizzy running around and around and around, wanting to play play play!
Then, resume Frapping in the morning. Whew! (a dozen games of fetch down, and H. already needs a nap!)
We followed the vet guidelines, gave her lots of water, and tried to calm her down.
Funny thing was, she was so excited, she'd instantly obey commands that she'd normally balk at, even without treats.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
December Wrapup
December Wrapup
Emily is relaxing and resting her head on my foot. It seems like a good moment to pound the keyboard and post a brief recap of the Emily universe.
- First 4 weeks of puppyhood. You should know that puppies generally do not have bladder control during their first 4 months, so you have to take them out to potty just about every hour. This means essentially no sleep for the humans.
- Spaying - for a month afterwards, you have to be extremely careful with the dog because she will try to lick at the surgery incision which could open up the wound again.
- Sickness - Emily became sick for a week. Small dogs are often finicky eaters so they don't have fat reserves to depend on when they get sick and aren't hungry. The Vet had to give Emily special liquid food to get her weight back up. Now we try to keep Emily a bit on the plumper side of life so she will have a bit of breathing room if she becomes sick again - not so easy because she is finicky.
- 12 weeks of dog class - we both have read the books on raising dogs, but it's good to see how fast the training should go by comparing to other dogs in the class. You also get a good idea of what can and can not be taught to a dog.
- Teaching Emily the critical commands: Sit, Potty, Come, Down, Stay, and No. The key is consistency in the command (both verbal and hand motion) and the reward - say the command in the exact same way each time and always give the dog a reward (i.e. a food treat) when she does the action. For me, Emily would do Potty #1, Sit, and Down on command. She would also stop whatever she was doing if I said No.
- Learning to walk correctly on a leash. This was quite an adventure. Small dogs often have weak necks for their first 6 months while they are growing up. So, most good books will suggest using a harnass or a Halti, which are devices which focus the control to other parts of the dog instead of the neck. The problem with using a harness is that it also teaches the dog that its OK (and even fun) to pull on the leash. Around month 8, Emily could correctly walk using an adult collar and leash nicely. I highly recommend Brian Kilcommons' book for help on the right technique for leash walking.
- One of the dreams of having a dog is to be able to walk with the dog (on a leash) down a crowded street or hall. This is much harder to do than one might initially think because a shopping street will have thousands of interesting smells and sounds and colors and people and in general things to get distracted by. A dog which can walk on a crowded shopping street or department store and behave in a calm manner is a very well trained dog. Around month 9, Emily was able to do this and we were very happy we could take her on shopping trips.
- Emily is also protective of the house. Anytime a stranger walks in, she will be a good little guard dog and bark up a storm until we show that we are OK with the stranger and she gets treats. Note that she doesn't bite, but she is a good alarm.
- Right now, Emily is very happy, playful, affectionate and fully potty and leash trained. She has a mixture of Orijin kibble and chicken for meals.
- For 2010, we will work on the other commands (i.e. Stay), see if there is a safe way for her to play with other dogs. Also, we'll replace the small (1 foot high) trashcans - Emily seems to think that anything within 1 foot from the floor is her domain.
Emily is relaxing and resting her head on my foot. It seems like a good moment to pound the keyboard and post a brief recap of the Emily universe.
- First 4 weeks of puppyhood. You should know that puppies generally do not have bladder control during their first 4 months, so you have to take them out to potty just about every hour. This means essentially no sleep for the humans.
- Spaying - for a month afterwards, you have to be extremely careful with the dog because she will try to lick at the surgery incision which could open up the wound again.
- Sickness - Emily became sick for a week. Small dogs are often finicky eaters so they don't have fat reserves to depend on when they get sick and aren't hungry. The Vet had to give Emily special liquid food to get her weight back up. Now we try to keep Emily a bit on the plumper side of life so she will have a bit of breathing room if she becomes sick again - not so easy because she is finicky.
- 12 weeks of dog class - we both have read the books on raising dogs, but it's good to see how fast the training should go by comparing to other dogs in the class. You also get a good idea of what can and can not be taught to a dog.
- Teaching Emily the critical commands: Sit, Potty, Come, Down, Stay, and No. The key is consistency in the command (both verbal and hand motion) and the reward - say the command in the exact same way each time and always give the dog a reward (i.e. a food treat) when she does the action. For me, Emily would do Potty #1, Sit, and Down on command. She would also stop whatever she was doing if I said No.
- Learning to walk correctly on a leash. This was quite an adventure. Small dogs often have weak necks for their first 6 months while they are growing up. So, most good books will suggest using a harnass or a Halti, which are devices which focus the control to other parts of the dog instead of the neck. The problem with using a harness is that it also teaches the dog that its OK (and even fun) to pull on the leash. Around month 8, Emily could correctly walk using an adult collar and leash nicely. I highly recommend Brian Kilcommons' book for help on the right technique for leash walking.
- One of the dreams of having a dog is to be able to walk with the dog (on a leash) down a crowded street or hall. This is much harder to do than one might initially think because a shopping street will have thousands of interesting smells and sounds and colors and people and in general things to get distracted by. A dog which can walk on a crowded shopping street or department store and behave in a calm manner is a very well trained dog. Around month 9, Emily was able to do this and we were very happy we could take her on shopping trips.
- Emily is also protective of the house. Anytime a stranger walks in, she will be a good little guard dog and bark up a storm until we show that we are OK with the stranger and she gets treats. Note that she doesn't bite, but she is a good alarm.
- Right now, Emily is very happy, playful, affectionate and fully potty and leash trained. She has a mixture of Orijin kibble and chicken for meals.
- For 2010, we will work on the other commands (i.e. Stay), see if there is a safe way for her to play with other dogs. Also, we'll replace the small (1 foot high) trashcans - Emily seems to think that anything within 1 foot from the floor is her domain.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Emily AKA Clifford
Emily's appetite is back, and better than ever. She'll finish her Orijen even without chicken on top, in under 1 minute, then gaze soulfully at me until she gets a second helping, grilled chicken this time.
She hangs out under the table, paying rapt attention to whoever's eating, in hope that one of us will drop something.
[See how big your bum is at the wrong angle, Mommy!]
Today, she ate a stale old dog biscuit that had been lying around in my study for 3 weeks. Then she found an old Greenie (veg-based doggie teeth snack) that had been rolling around for about 3 months. GONE.
[I eat, I sleep, I stare at Mommy. Envy me]
Unfortunately, I couldn't weigh her this morning. When I picked her up from her red cushion, she growled.
[FANGS!!!]
She hangs out under the table, paying rapt attention to whoever's eating, in hope that one of us will drop something.
[See how big your bum is at the wrong angle, Mommy!]Today, she ate a stale old dog biscuit that had been lying around in my study for 3 weeks. Then she found an old Greenie (veg-based doggie teeth snack) that had been rolling around for about 3 months. GONE.
[I eat, I sleep, I stare at Mommy. Envy me]Unfortunately, I couldn't weigh her this morning. When I picked her up from her red cushion, she growled.
[FANGS!!!]Oh, she got the Time-out box for that one.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Puppy Blogging
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/garden/pupblog.html?em
The NYT has a weekly blog following a golden retriever pup, which H. thinks will be pretty fun to read. (Will it stay real? It starts out with "arrived almost housebroken" at 9 weeks, but of course that's wobbly ground with puppies. If they have to go every 2 hours, one little mistake happens more often than you expect.)
Emily did a little poo boo-boo in the library just yesterday. It happens.
-
The grocery store had Beef Hearts in the meat section, labeled "for pets," so Emily had that with her dinner instead of chicken. New favorite foodies.
-
We went ahead and shaved Emily's feet, as they were catching little pebbles on walks. Now she has chicken legs. tee hee.
The NYT has a weekly blog following a golden retriever pup, which H. thinks will be pretty fun to read. (Will it stay real? It starts out with "arrived almost housebroken" at 9 weeks, but of course that's wobbly ground with puppies. If they have to go every 2 hours, one little mistake happens more often than you expect.)
Emily did a little poo boo-boo in the library just yesterday. It happens.
-
The grocery store had Beef Hearts in the meat section, labeled "for pets," so Emily had that with her dinner instead of chicken. New favorite foodies.
-
We went ahead and shaved Emily's feet, as they were catching little pebbles on walks. Now she has chicken legs. tee hee.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Walk, no Walk & Pottering Around
Emily hates her Halti, but it's the only way to get her to walk. She still pulls and sits in the middle of the road and behaves as if we've broken the last remnants of her free spirit, but at least it doesn't press down on her windpipe like a garrote and choke her so she makes hacking noises as she chases after a wrapper. (UGH)
We, silly putty-in-her-paws parents, are considering "the shoulder harness," decried by all dog-training manuals as "USELESS."
Looks like a well-behaved puppy, hanging out in her crate-y:
Actually: after running away and avoiding the Halti, Emily squats in her crate and says, "walk? what is this walk you speak of?"
--
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince had a few good bits, but was overall sadly incoherent and lacked theme, drive, and most of all heart. Where was the tension and suspense, David Yates? I thought you were good at that! And the "romance" was so clunky. Sad for a past Potter fangirl to say. (Cuaron, come back!) Even Draco being all conflicted didn't make up for the overarching blah.
But the 12 minutes of 3D at the beginning was rather neat. Was that only for the IMAX theaters?
We, silly putty-in-her-paws parents, are considering "the shoulder harness," decried by all dog-training manuals as "USELESS."
Looks like a well-behaved puppy, hanging out in her crate-y:
(Guess the caption for this picture)
Actually: after running away and avoiding the Halti, Emily squats in her crate and says, "walk? what is this walk you speak of?"
--
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince had a few good bits, but was overall sadly incoherent and lacked theme, drive, and most of all heart. Where was the tension and suspense, David Yates? I thought you were good at that! And the "romance" was so clunky. Sad for a past Potter fangirl to say. (Cuaron, come back!) Even Draco being all conflicted didn't make up for the overarching blah.
But the 12 minutes of 3D at the beginning was rather neat. Was that only for the IMAX theaters?
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Third Time's the Charm
Emily's test driving her beddy for the third time (after peeing in it twice yesterday). I stuffed it in her crate to see if she won't wet it if it's the bed.
[Froggy had it coming. He looked at me funny, Mommy]
[ETA] Emily peed on her new fluffy bed for the THIRD time, which was in her crate this time. And 5 minutes after refusing to pee when I took her outside.
Oi oi. *mommy headaches*
[Froggy had it coming. He looked at me funny, Mommy][ETA] Emily peed on her new fluffy bed for the THIRD time, which was in her crate this time. And 5 minutes after refusing to pee when I took her outside.
Oi oi. *mommy headaches*
Sunday, May 24, 2009
disgruntled
Emily ate poo. Romped around in the grass carrying other dog's poo in her mouth like a big prize, yeah.
YUCK. no kissies for you, puppo.
On the bright side, the Halti is working wonders. Almost no pulling, snapping, or barking. It seems to work as a "job" collar (in place of a doggy backpack) for her.
YUCK. no kissies for you, puppo.
On the bright side, the Halti is working wonders. Almost no pulling, snapping, or barking. It seems to work as a "job" collar (in place of a doggy backpack) for her.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Aunt Mmii wanted reports
You forget a couple of days, and it's harder to come back, 'cause you've got no excuse for slacking off except laziness. The Internets are like that. (like dissertating) You start getting behind and you can't ever catch up. tee hee.
Emily's been busy eating and sleeping and learning new ways of being whiny. Chip off the old block.
[Boring! Change the channel, Daddy! I want Dog Whisperer]
[And bring me more icecream]
[What? But I need to be a WOMAN!]
--
Emily's been busy eating and sleeping and learning new ways of being whiny. Chip off the old block.
[Boring! Change the channel, Daddy! I want Dog Whisperer]
[And bring me more icecream]Today was the last day of Puppy Class (12 weeks!) She can do Down and Wait, now. Also, can tolerate dogs she knows (except when she doesn't want to and snaps at them). After Puppy Class, Daddy takes her upstairs for a bath. She's a huge baby: 3 kg. We should call up her vet for a spay- consultation, soon.
[What? But I need to be a WOMAN!]--
ps, the title is not a typo, but a clever way of preserving Aunt Mmii's anonymity. Now, no one can guess her name! (SMRT!)
Friday, April 3, 2009
Expectations
Some things to remember... by M.
From Good Owners, Great Dogs by B. Kilcommons, on raising puppies:
"He comes happily, sits sometimes and downs with guidance. It sounds like you're doing well."
"No pup is going to behave with the consistency or focus of an adult dog."
[Spying on the neighborhood kids]
----
Other things to remember... by H.
Dorko (aka Emily the Puppy) is still a girl, has always been a girl. Yup, April Fool's.
She also jumped on the sofa (common misdemeanor when we're out) and peed on it, late last night after H. had gone to bed and M. was still on his way home from a Ph.D. defense in Twente.
M. just goes, "Hehehe, she's just a puppy. I've been expecting this to happen," soaks the sofa cover in the tub without fuss, cleans up, takes Dorko/Emily out for a proper potty, and goes to bed. Case in point that H. is married to the nicest guy ever.
[Spying on the neighborhood kids, now with lamb chewie snacks]
Emily now has a covered bicycle basket, for trips to the park. Pedal faster, Mommy Chariot!
From Good Owners, Great Dogs by B. Kilcommons, on raising puppies:
"He comes happily, sits sometimes and downs with guidance. It sounds like you're doing well."
"No pup is going to behave with the consistency or focus of an adult dog."
[Spying on the neighborhood kids]Other things to remember... by H.
Dorko (aka Emily the Puppy) is still a girl, has always been a girl. Yup, April Fool's.
She also jumped on the sofa (common misdemeanor when we're out) and peed on it, late last night after H. had gone to bed and M. was still on his way home from a Ph.D. defense in Twente.
M. just goes, "Hehehe, she's just a puppy. I've been expecting this to happen," soaks the sofa cover in the tub without fuss, cleans up, takes Dorko/Emily out for a proper potty, and goes to bed. Case in point that H. is married to the nicest guy ever.
[Spying on the neighborhood kids, now with lamb chewie snacks]Emily now has a covered bicycle basket, for trips to the park. Pedal faster, Mommy Chariot!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Puppy Class
Guess who's the class clown now?
When doing the "Come to Mommy!" exercise, Emily ran the other way instead, tagging all the other dogs, and tumbled over her head running (she was going so fast), before she came to Mommy.
Oh, my kingdom for a camera.
We're going to the beach today.
When doing the "Come to Mommy!" exercise, Emily ran the other way instead, tagging all the other dogs, and tumbled over her head running (she was going so fast), before she came to Mommy.
Oh, my kingdom for a camera.
We're going to the beach today.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Depth Perception in Puppies
한 눈 파는 사이에 거실 문을 1cm라도 열어놓으면, Emily can nose her way out and run all the way up the stairs to the 2nd floor in a wink. But she can't come down. Not one step. Coaxing her on the third step felt like cruelty to puppies.
[But it's so far down!]
[But it's so far down!]
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Poo on a Plastic Fork
Emily's new specialty is pooing at the edge of the garden so her poo drops under the fence and rolls into our neighbor's patio (see here). H. has to pick it out with a plastic fork.
Puppy:4 - Human:0
So, M. brought home 4 more bricks and covered up the slot.
[Din't Do Nothing]Yesterday's walk was mad+crazy+hangdog, but last night, despite a head cold, H. finished Cesar Milan's Cesar's Way. We were already fans of The Dog Whisperer, and the "calm assertive energy" bit about pack mentality. So, today's walk was no-nonsense and in-charge.
Mommy's greatest puppy ambition is to be a wandering homeless person with Emily. Yeah, according to Cesar Milan, they have the best behaved & happiest dogs.
--
Have the Korean film version of Antique Bakery to watch. The manga was so-so (grows on you though), but the movie-trailer from last November was cute. It might be worth it for 김재욱 (from Coffee Prince), 'cause 주지훈 just looks like a rat to me.
--
Last word of the day is brought to you by Eva Jinek: Boobies!
Mommy's greatest puppy ambition is to be a wandering homeless person with Emily. Yeah, according to Cesar Milan, they have the best behaved & happiest dogs.
--
Have the Korean film version of Antique Bakery to watch. The manga was so-so (grows on you though), but the movie-trailer from last November was cute. It might be worth it for 김재욱 (from Coffee Prince), 'cause 주지훈 just looks like a rat to me.
--
Last word of the day is brought to you by Eva Jinek: Boobies!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Human Failings
In non-Emily news,
- This week, Dutch Radio has been all about the Turkish Airlines crash (watching the press conference with the Black Box recordings now), and also how Twitter will change news media.
- This makes Twitter much more interesting that I'd ever considered it to be.
- Uncle Shaggy, in claiming he is "lazy," has identified himself with a ground squirrel.
- Oh and "outing" a fandom person's real name and info, or threatening to do so, and thinking it's perfectly OK. Nope, it's still despicable and nasty. No excuse.
- This week, Dutch Radio has been all about the Turkish Airlines crash (watching the press conference with the Black Box recordings now), and also how Twitter will change news media.
- This makes Twitter much more interesting that I'd ever considered it to be.
- Uncle Shaggy, in claiming he is "lazy," has identified himself with a ground squirrel.
- Oh and "outing" a fandom person's real name and info, or threatening to do so, and thinking it's perfectly OK. Nope, it's still despicable and nasty. No excuse.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The World is a Cold Dark Place
In Puppy Class, H. was told not to kiss Emily on the nose as it is very dangerous. woes. (we knew that. but shoot, got caught. 집에서 세는 바가지...)
It was a cute trick, too: kiss Emily on the nose, Emily licks her own nose.
Mommy will just have to kiss Emzee in secret.
It was a cute trick, too: kiss Emily on the nose, Emily licks her own nose.
Mommy will just have to kiss Emzee in secret.
Saturday means Puppy Class
[Stop Blogging and Play with Me]Since we're off to be Puppy Class Prodigies again, H. pulls out Bad Puppy Vids:
Happy Saturday to the rest of you!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Young Adult Class
[Gotcha, ya little varmint!]Emily jumped into Young Adult Class (12 total, every Saturday), and was a star. Two middle sized dogs, one German Shepherd, two chihuahuas. One of the runts tried to bite her, but she was okay. She's usually less shy when she's seen something twice, better three times. Emily was perfect with "Sit," "Watch," "Come," and walking on the leash. We'll practice "Down" this week.
The chihuahua's mommy was so frustrated her dog wouldn't do anything, but Emzee only makes things look easy. Actually, we'd been working on "Sit" and "Come" and "paying attention" since she was 8 weeks old. So, of course she could do them perfectly.
Class environment is pretty tough for puppies to pick up new commands. It's more for socialization and for the owners to learn things, and practice later at home.
Leerburg says a dog has to repeat a command at least 30 times before he learns it (a human, about 7 times). Funny how a lot of people assume being smart means picking up something instantly, instead of work!work!work!
Class environment is pretty tough for puppies to pick up new commands. It's more for socialization and for the owners to learn things, and practice later at home.
Leerburg says a dog has to repeat a command at least 30 times before he learns it (a human, about 7 times). Funny how a lot of people assume being smart means picking up something instantly, instead of work!work!work!
[Fresh out of the bath, and napping inside Daddy's jacket]
Saturday, February 14, 2009
WANTED
Have You Seen This Puppy?
Known as Emzee da Mudd,Wanted: Alive and Squirming!
[Din' do it, besides I forgots/머리 코 박고 자]
--Saturday: we have puppy class at 11. (actually, she was put in the "young adult" class, with some smaller dogs). Cross your fingers.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Puppy Class - lees meer
So, evidently, the Puppy Class Instructor called us yesterday evening, but as I never know where my cell is (or it's not recharged), we missed it.
Of course it had to rain. As we're sitting in the parking lot, waiting for everyone else to arrive, H. sees nothing but HUMONGUS Golden Retrievers and FERAL Labradors. Oh yay, finally an overgrown Boxer.
"Turn the car around. We're going home. They'll CHOMP on EMILY!!!"
Evidently, no one else signed up for Puppy Class, and everyone else showed up for "Young Adult" classes, so we got private lessons under an awning, where two feet away, two guys started making beer. No really, this is Holland, this must happen all the time.
Emily could already "Come" when called, respond to her name, "Sit," so we learned "Down" and "Watch" (me). And we walked on the leash around the other HUGE EVOL DOGS (who belonged to Doggy Delinquents Anonymous, obviously). Ems was prancing next to me like a show puppy. (Happy Mommy didn't notice one of the black Labs tried to bite her)
So yes, Emily is a puppy prodigy.
Taking the advice of the intructor, we later took her out next to the Bio-Science Park, and went for a 40 minute walk. Oh. Wow. Ems sailed through that.
Yes, Emily's going to Harvard for sure. Wot? H. is a 진짜 한국엄마. tee hee.
Of course it had to rain. As we're sitting in the parking lot, waiting for everyone else to arrive, H. sees nothing but HUMONGUS Golden Retrievers and FERAL Labradors. Oh yay, finally an overgrown Boxer.
"Turn the car around. We're going home. They'll CHOMP on EMILY!!!"
Evidently, no one else signed up for Puppy Class, and everyone else showed up for "Young Adult" classes, so we got private lessons under an awning, where two feet away, two guys started making beer. No really, this is Holland, this must happen all the time.
Emily could already "Come" when called, respond to her name, "Sit," so we learned "Down" and "Watch" (me). And we walked on the leash around the other HUGE EVOL DOGS (who belonged to Doggy Delinquents Anonymous, obviously). Ems was prancing next to me like a show puppy. (Happy Mommy didn't notice one of the black Labs tried to bite her)
So yes, Emily is a puppy prodigy.
Taking the advice of the intructor, we later took her out next to the Bio-Science Park, and went for a 40 minute walk. Oh. Wow. Ems sailed through that.
Yes, Emily's going to Harvard for sure. Wot? H. is a 진짜 한국엄마. tee hee.
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