At times like these, the little angel finds his own fun with socks, shoes and my collection of Brides Magazines.
By this afternoon, I think all three of us were getting a little tired of sitting on the sofa doing work. Sitting between my fiancee and I typing on laptops is not Skyler's idea of a fun afternoon. So, we played hide-and-go-seek. My fiancee and I were the hiders and Skyler always the seeker, but you'd be surprised to learn how long this went on for before it got old.
We talked to another trainer back in Massachusetts. We'd like to bring Skyler and my parents new puppy to classes each week. Upon our first discussion, the trainer established that I'm making some pretty significant boo-boos with the munchkin.
In his eyes I shouldn't be:
1. Sleeping with Skyman: He said this diminishes my power as the alpha. He said Skyler should be sleeping at the bottom of the bed or even on the floor, but that we should definitely not be spooning. And while I can see his point, I don't think the sleeping situation is going to change anytime soon. We have to draw the line somewhere and snuggling is a top priority.
2. Skyler shouldn't be fed by hand anymore. Now, this directly opposes our last trainer's method. But we'll try it.
3. Limit the snacks. He said that giving your dog snacks all the time is not something that happens in the dog world. He said a dog typically gives another dog their food when they're intimidated by that dog. I'm not sure if I buy the intimidation deal, but I do believe in dog obesity and I definitely don't want to be faced with that someday in the future. So we'll monitor the snack giving. I'll admit I share dinner sometimes. This is a behavior I have to work on.
Doggie opinions anyone?
Posts
This khanine says the bed is fine!
ReplyDeleteHugz&Khysses,
Khyra
Oh boy! You are coming home to Master Chew Sits? Let me know where. We live in Framingham and momma knows tons of trainers and doggie school places. Here are my opinions;
ReplyDelete1) Sleeping on the bed? I am not even allowed into the bedroom! Can you imagine? Something about setting boundaries. As if!
2) I always heard feed by hand was good for doggies who have foodable issues. My only food issue is getting everything down fast before the dork tries to steal it.
3) Snackies. Hmmmm. I usually only get snacks after doing something for momma. Of course when we are officially "training" I get tons of snacks. But then a big guy like me doesn't have to watch his weight so closely. When I get people food it is always out of my dog bowl. No plate licking or begging. Sigh.
Slobbers,
Mango
My pup is a spoiled brat, and we probably give her too many treats. Since she's only 5 lbs and can't handle big doggie treats, we just keep a stash of Cheerios handy. She loves them. She also loves carrots and red peppers - and apparently those aren't so bad for dogs. Would Skyler eat veggies for treats?
ReplyDeleteI give my beagles, Daisy and Maggie, snacks but only at certain times. They each get half a biscuit when I leave for school each day and a whole biscuit when we come back from our walk in the evening. That's it! They'd both gotten fat and I needed to cut back on the snacks and their portions at meal time. Happy to report that they've both slimmed down. They beg for treats all the time, but I just ignore them now and they get over it!
ReplyDelete