Tag: dogs

It’s back to basics for our dynamic duo.

After our scare on Monday, when they got into a nasty fight that we had great difficulty breaking up, we brought the trainer back in for another round. Pat told us what we already knew, of course: We’ve spoiled them terribly and let them walk all over us.

Dogs, from everything we’ve read, look for a pack leader. If we don’t provide it, then they fill the vacuum themselves.

That’s why, as they approach their first birthday, they’ve retained far too many of their worst habits and have started developing new ones:

• They jump on people when they first come in the door. They will calm down, but I can see how someone might not want to deal with it. Plus, they have sharp nails that leave marks.
• They’ve started using their mouths to direct us or get our attention. That is unacceptable, but we had no idea how to address it. Now, when they use their teeth or their paws that way, we stop them and basically reset things.
• They’ve become more difficult to walk, pulling so hard that Annie often has to let me have both dogs — not an easy chore. A few weeks ago, while we were walking on Hodge Road, one of the dogs went to the bathroom. Annie took both dogs as I cleaned it up — which seemed OK at that moment. Until someone nearby let their two dogs out in their fenced-in yard. All four dogs went nuts and Rosie and Sophie pulled Annie across the yard and into a pile of firewood. She was bruised and strained her shoulder, but the firewood probably kept it from getting worse. It all happened in seconds — like Monday’s fight — but seemed to unwind in slow motion.
• They’ve been jumping on the counters again, after not doing that for months. Last night, with the trainer here, Sophie stole a loaf of carrot bread Annie brought home. She got to it twice, but we caught her right away. We’ve got to work on keeping her off the counter.
• They also like remote controls — we’ve had to replace three so far and have another two that need to go back. They’ve chewed on a Blackberry, two laptop chargers and this morning got to a mini video camera.

None of this is acceptable, but it also isn’t their fault. It’s ours. We have done a terrible job raising our pups and now we’ve got to work twice as hard to make up for lost time.

You’d think we’d be better at this, given we’ve had dogs since shortly after we started dating. But it has been a long time since we’ve had puppies this young and now we have two. I wouldn’t trade them, but we probably should have thought a little more about it at the beginning.

In any case, this is a lifetime commitment, like raising a kid. Monday’s fight reminded us of that.

We should have called these guys Hilts and Hendley, after the lead characters in The Great Escape.

Consider their escapades on Thursday. We swung by my brother’s house after work — had a new roof and new windows installed and he wanted us to see them. Rather than lock the dogs back up in their pen, where they spend the day, we threw them in the car.

We got out at Mark’s, leaving the dogs in the car with the rear windows partially open. As we got out of the car, Annie asked if we should close them a bit. I said, no, it should be OK.

And then I turned and saw Rosie with her head and paws out the window. I ran back, closed the rear windows some.

That’s when we noticed the dogs in the front seat. They’d snuck between the bucket seats, Sophie sitting in the passenger seat and Rosie moving around. We laughed and went inside.

A minute later — maybe less — it dawned on me that I’d left my window, the driver-side front window — open, and ran out the door.

Too late. By the time I got outside, Rosie was on her way out the window and running toward the house (thankfully), or so I thought.

She bolted for the front yard where Sophie was — she must have gotten out first and I hadn’t noticed. Luckily, I was able to corral the two of them, though before I had full control they rushed the front door and into the house. I followed, slammed the door shut and Annie and I managed to grab them.

Lesson: Do not leave the car windows all the way open. Better yet, take them out when you get out of the car.

Annie and I were watching The Dog Whisperer tonight — and so were the dogs. The show stars a dog trainer — Cesar Milan — who takes difficult cases and rehabilitates them, taking dogs that might otherwise be put down and making them into the kind of family members we all hope our dogs will be.

Our dogs, which have run of the house, do have some behavioral issues — we’ve lost a couch and numerous shoes — but they are pretty good for nine-month-old pups.

Even so, there remains much more that we could be doing — as our dog trainer has pointed out. We need to be more consistent, need to stay in control and show that we are in charge. None of this is easy, especially after long days at work. But we have to make the effort.

In any case, we noticed as we watched that we weren’t the only ones in the house fixated on what was happening on the screen. Rosie and Sophie were engrossed in the show, as well. Maybe they’ll pick up some pointers.