Meet my new puppy!

[diamondlil]

I go for the spice cure, Meg! Stir-fries or curries, food with plenty of garlic, onions, chilies to stop congestion, ginger to settle my tum, pepper or paprika to add heat, fresh tomatoes and bell peppers for vitamin C. Menthol chest rub too, used to total excess!

 

[MegF.]

I love Vicks vaporub. I use the zinc on a daily basis to keep the colds from even starting. I've had one cold in 6 years and not had any other illness except for that. The foods you are eating will definitely kill any germs! Garlic and onion both have antibiotic properties (no good for a virus but helpful for secondary issues) and if nothing else, will keep people the heck away! Paprika will make you sweat. Oranges and other citrus are also high in vitamin c and chamomile tea with honey will also help soothe a throat, quiet and cough and honey also has antibiotic properties as well. Ginger or mint are both stomach calmers. I have a very nice eucalyptus hydroculator that I can heat in the microwave that produces moist heat that lasts a long time. I wrap that around my upper body/chest and sleep with it on. Helps for sore muscles and this last cold had me coughing horribly. It helped with that. Good fresh air is always helpful too!! Hope you knock it out quickly!

 

[diamondlil]

We've had heavy rains here, which have finally cleared to bright skies but temperatures just above freezing. So out with the camera today, with the dogs on the brace lead. This was one of the few good photos I got of them, before we caught the scent of foxes. The woods literally stank of fox musk, so both dogs got really excited and enjoyed searching and following the trails. No chance today to practice recall, instead even though I was letting them search they had to mind their manners and not pull on the lead.

 

[MegF.]

Looks like a fun day!! didn't get out today but took all four of mine to the local park for a 4 mile walk there yesterday.

 

[diamondlil]

I've got happy, muddy, stinky dogs this morning! We went to the river even though the tide was out, so out over the mudflats went my dogs. I had stinky cheese in my pockets, hence the beautiful recalls!
I've got a proper dog whistle, that I'm charging with a quick blast and instant cheese dropping plus praise indoors, before I use it outside.

 

[MegF.]

Looks like fun!

 

[diamondlil]

I prefer going when the tide's in, it means less mud on the dogs, but to be honest it's a lot more fun for them when the mudflats are exposed and there's more open space for them to run in. Rosie virtually never ran out on the mud before Bertie came along, and she tends to hang around with me until she just can't resist joining in with him.
We had a surprising encounter with a very well-dressed middle-aged couple. Both dogs raced over to them (odd behaviour) and were then jumping around them (again, odd behaviour) until I called them away. As I apologised for the mud on the man's trousers, I realised they'd both been walking a pair of ferrets each in harnesses and picked them up as my dogs ran over. Yes, I know any off-leash dogs should have good behaviour, but this is an area where lots of dogs are taken to run off steam, so personally not somewhere I'd choose as safe to walk a ferret. There are fenced-off dog-free areas there that would have seemed to me, personally, to have been a better choice. As the couple had both kicked out at my dogs, but only served to excite them further, I felt the mud was deserved, but kept those thoughts to myself. Thankfully the stinky cheese in my pockets overcame the lure of the ferrets.....

 

[MegF.]

And hopefully those cheese pieces will always be worth more than whatever catches their eye. Cuz if they lose their value....you're in trouble! Remember that recall is a no negotiation command. They HAVE to come with or without the cheese.

 

[diamondlil]

And hopefully those cheese pieces will always be worth more than whatever catches their eye. Cuz if they lose their value....you're in trouble! Remember that recall is a no negotiation command. They HAVE to come with or without the cheese.

I know! We're a work in progress, Meg. I got the dog whistle to help, because giving a happy, positive 'come' command is something I have trouble with. For a start I've not really got a high-pitched voice, especially if I'm stressed by Bertie disappearing into the distance. Rosie learnt recall really easily with the sharp command 'Here, here' as a puppy, but Bertie was already 9 months when I got him and the rehabber had taught him 'Bertie, Bertie, Bertie' as his recall. She had a really bright, high pitch to her voice, so I've always struggled to get the pitch and tone right. (I'm afraid under testing conditions it turns into a bellowing threat, not at all the effect I want)
So as baby steps, I figured a whistle chained with high-value treats and effusive praise would be something to try. So I bought a proper dog-whistle yesterday and have used it indoors so far, with Bertie quickly realising the whistle means GOOD STUFF and straight to my feet. The next stage will be using the whistle outside in an area with no distractions and the tracker lead on. I didn't take the whistle out with us today, as I only want to use it under controlled conditions to start with.
Does that sound about right?

 

[MegF.]

sounds good. Usually if I call the dogs it's a no nonsense command. I don't use high pitched anyway. Just so and so...HERE!! With the emphasis on here. Then they get the "you're the best dog to ever come and sit at my feet routine" once they get there. So, hopefully you'll be to where you don't have to use the happy, high pitched command. Again, it's not about fun and games. Come means come. No matter what..no matter who you see or how far away. Low pitch travels further than high anyway. When I showed obedience, you sat across the ring from the dogs and simply called them...or later, used a hand signal. the pitch doesn't matter if the command is understood. Keep on working at it!!! They are doing great and you're on the right path!

 

[diamondlil]

Thanks Meg. My trainer wanted me to use a happy 'high' command for Bertie, but it just doesn't come naturally. I figured the whistle being a neutral (non-emotive) sound for Bertie I can reproduce every time would be a good idea......except then what happens if I lose it! Should I persist instead with the same 'Here, here' staccato command I use for Rosie?

 

[MegF.]

You might try the whistle and then phase it out for a normal come. Never had the issue come up though. I've always taught the recall the same way. Call them in a normal firm tone (loud enough to be heard over whatever distance they are at) and they come. Then a ton of praise. A whistle comes in handy if they are so far you don't think your voice would carry that far, but frankly, if they are that far, you aren't in control. Mine never get very far out of range when we are hiking. I want them close enough that I can control them if necessary. They can still run, play and hike but it has to be within a certain range.
FWIW though, I always use the same command for come for all the dogs. One dog doesn't get called one way, and another another way. It's consistent.

 

[diamondlil]

Okey Dokey, I think I would do better using the same call for them both, the 'Here, here' I use all the time for Rosie. The whole 'within calling distance' has never been an issue with Rosie, until Bertie started his runaway behaviour and they chased a fox together. I think the thrill of the chase was enough to overcome her (until then) predictable behaviour of ranging away a little and checking back to my side. Since then I've totally avoided the place they chased the fox and leashed them in areas where I know foxes are frequent and there is any danger they can get in trouble. In fact at the river and over at the reservoir (both safe, large, enclosed spaces away from roads) are the only places I've let the dogs run together for now. In both places, Rosie has reverted to her usual behaviour of staying mostly at my side with little forays away. One problem is that in that situation, when Bertie comes back in a good recall, unless Rosie is on her lead she chases him off away from me.

 

[MegF.]

Pack behavior is natural and generally with prey drive added it's irresistable. The guarding you from Bertie is not good. That should be corrected with a touch when she chases him off. Possessing you is a no-no.

 

[diamondlil]

Pack behavior is natural and generally with prey drive added it's irresistable. The guarding you from Bertie is not good. That should be corrected with a touch when she chases him off. Possessing you is a no-no.

Ah, correcting Rosie with a touch when she's off-lead = impossible! She's a whippet/bedlington remember, she can move far quicker than me. Slipping her back on her lead is the only way I've found to stop her from darting at Bertie when he's recalling back to me.

 

[MegF.]

Ah, then you need to follow her until she does submit. My dogs are faster than I am too, but if I start walking towards them deliberately, staring so that every time they turn around I'm looking them in the eye, they eventually will stop and lay down. They run and run and I walk and walk...following, following until I can follow through on the correction. They will get tired and the dominant posture will generally get them to give up. If you know she does it, anticipate it and get her the minute the ears perk up or she starts looking at Bertie. I guarantee you she gives you plenty of warning she's about to move. Correct her before she starts.

 

[diamondlil]

I can (and do) correct any kind of resource guarding indoors. Rosie tries to gather up and guard toys from Bertie, so they only have them under supervision, same with bones or cow hooves. Outside, either dog alone will play nicely with other dogs, but when they are both off-lead a more antagonistic, competetive relationship towards each other is noticable. If you look at any of the photos where they are both free running, you can see that they are busting a gut to get in front or are actually nipping at each other as they run. Which is why I'm finding running one dog at a time freely much easier to manage. My trainer said this is common behaviour in bitches and probably indicates Rosie thinks she 'owns' me

 

[MegF.]

She absolutely think she owns you which is why it's so important to correct the behavior from her. That wasy you are re-establishing yourself as pack leader and they as followers. Behavior like that can easily change to her guarding you from people or any other perceived "threat" to her property. Doesn't mean she will, but I've certainly worked with enough dogs like that to see it happen. The correction from you will be meaningful though. The thing is you MUST discipline regardless of how long it takes you to catch up to her or follow her. Follow through is a MUST. I tell this to a lot of people I work with. Unless you follow up with discipline, it's meaningless. Much like the barking dog that the owner starts to go correct and when the dog sees them coming it stops so the owner goes back...and the dog barks again. My beagle was very vocal when I first fostered him. He would bark at everything. I acknowledged his bark as a warning, told him enough and he'd still continue. Didn't matter if he was at the end of my two acre farm....if he was acknowledged and told to stop, he needed to stop. If he did not, I'd go to the end of the property and disciplined him. Follow through. He barks far, far less than he used to. Partly due to my acknowledging his proper behavior in alerting the pack of intruders, and also because I followed through every time he did not listen when I asked him to quit.

 

[diamondlil]

Yep, I don't tolerate any kind of rough play, or even posturing between them, but it's easier to step in smartly indoors. I keep a pretty close eye on their arousal levels, so they tend to stay low-key. I found being in my bedroom was a flashpoint, so that was completely banned for months and is only allowed for very short periods when they must both just lay down calmly. On-lead Rosie used to take pops at Bertie when I first got him, but I corrected her every time and I'd say it's pretty rare now, maybe over a month or more since she last tried that.
So free-running offlead is probably something that tips them over into an excited state. Food for thought. What I tend to do if they have been scrapping like in the photos above is leash them both and put them in a 'down', and not let them up until they are calm again

 

[MegF.]

That works for certain. Aggression is always from excitement. I've never seen a dog that's calm acting aggressively. Keeping the levels down to a dull roar will keep any type of pushiness at a minimum.