Kitties are fun to run after

Although we had let Diesel have a pee early in the morning, it was around 11 am by the time i was ready to go out with the kids to let Diesel play. There was also Misty that had gone out earlier and wouldn't answer the call to come in before we went out. so after about 3 throws, Diesel spotted Misty coming back out of the woods. I had nothing to hold him back and he just ran like mad after her. He was pretty much barking at a tree by the time my own barking convinced him to let go and come back. end of game back in house. For Diesel at least. I went back out and found Misty some 15-20 feet up in a tree meowing each time i called her. but wouldn't come down. Then the phone, that i took out with me, rang. i ran to the house to get better reception. It was Andy getting the tire changed and letting me know he'd be back soon. I couldn't find Misty after that and we went back in to have lunch. Diesel finally decided to have breakfast just before we went in town for some appointment, and took him with us. We got him a new collar, a double thickness, so hopefully it will last him. the first one we got was way too big, the second one too small, so this time i made sure it was gonna fit.

One lady that gives pet tips on radio every weeks has a kennel, is a professional dog trainer and also a website where you can find tips and even some free download on basic training. and she recommend a slip chain collar. for training purpose. but at one of the pet food store we were told they might work but there was some other kind of collar that worked better and didn't press on their windpipe but we had to get him fitted for it. it just pinch when they pull, they don't like it and quickly learn to stop pulling. they asked me to take him out for a walk around the driveway before to buy it and it was like walking with a totally different dog. much different then the collar that wrapped around the snout and although the slip chain worked, it still not as effective as the pincher. hopefully it will only be needed for a short time. I'm trying to learn at the dog psychology level, so all of this become unnecessary. I've started to watch The Dog Whisperer, and it seem that training is not even the issue, it's how to be the pack leader for your canine friend.

i've started to apply some of what i've heard from peoples who watched it and told me about it and some stuff it reminded me of, that i've heard in the past. like:

• never let your dog come in the house before you, you go, then invite him in.
• when the dog stays home, don't go greet him when you come in. ignore him and when he's calm and you're ready, then invite him to see you.
• mix his food with your hands, so he get your sent in his food

I also noticed once, that he started running like crazy after his frenzy in the snow and it was in circle around me. then he stopped at me and started barking in a way i found intimidating. so i figured that circling had something to do with assertion and i started doing that to him. it seem to work. will have to learn more about it, see if my instinct are correct on that.

so with all that, i find he's a little more calm and start listening to me when i ask him to sit in different situations. one thing i noticed from the get go, is that he would only listen to me if i am standing. if i sit, it goes in deaf years.

I think that since he used to live with an other dog, that pack instinct is stronger and there lye the need to learn how to be the Alpha.

any other tips? anyone has good result changing dog behaviors?

on our way back from the city, i asked that Diesel not be let out of the vehicle yet so i could try to call Misty back in. didn't' see her then, so took Diesel back in the house on a leash just in case, so he wouldn't scare her away again. not long after, Misty showed up and i was able to bring her back in. our brave little trooper.

after supper i was surprised to see Daphne come halfway up the stairs while Diesel was at the gait. she didn't stay long but it's definitely an improvement from hiding 24/7 at the furthest back of the basement.

after the kids were in bed, i took him out to play Frisbee and he start to bring it more directly in my hand this evening as opposed to drop it in front of me or somewhere on the way. but i also decided that when he start to drop it before he get to me, that he's done playing and it's time to go back in. he starts to get better at catching in flight too.

Say Hello Neighbors!

Diesel likes to wake up early, and go for a pee around 5:30 am, then i go back to bed, trying to get a bit more sleep, around 7 am, he wanted to play so there was no hope to sleep till 8. i put my sneakers on and my old winter jacket... oh it was cold this may morning. it was frosty. but Diesel doesn't mind, he likes to play Frisbee. so we did for about 20 minutes i think. i had made the kids breakfast before to head out and just had to point the kids to it so they could help them self. i didn't expect them to get up that early though, like what is it with kids? all week, i had to wake em up because they were sleeping so soundly and would've slept past 8 when at least Owen had to get up. but on a day when they could've slept late... nop, they're up early. it never fail hehe

then i got ready to go to church. my mother come look after the kids while i go and then she goes at the later one. and when i came back she said that when i left he cried and barked. Since i'm almost always home, i guess he's getting attached. after lunch, Andy and Owen took Diesel for a walk to the river. after 2 hours gone, i was beginning to wonder. and also felt guilty for staying inside with Vivian when it's so nice out. so we got dressed and went to meet them on their way back.

when we got close enough that i could see them, i called Diesel and he bolted running for a stretch, then wait till i called again, then ran for and other stretch like that 3 times. after that Andy tried to call him back and even whit me telling him to go he had a hard time to be convinced to run back to him. look like he had quite some fun because he was so dirty. on our way back he decided to take a bath in the trench that run along the access road that lead to the river. there's no one traveling that road really, it's just for us and it's so rugged we're not equipped to drive on it. so finally he came out of the trail cleaner.

we stayed around the yard for some time after so he was running around the yard. there's once that we couldn't see him and called him a few times before he showed back up from outside our yard. we're gonna have to keep a watch on him. then i heard the neighbors. so i decided to take him over to introduce him. the rule is and will be that he doesn't leave the yard without a leash. he was ok with it till we got there but there was so much new stuff to see there and the bird singing all around that he wish he wasn't held close to us. he still pulls hard at time but i find it's not as much. Then again, he seems not as eager to pull after having spent a fair bit of his energy running around.

when we decided to go back in the house. the cats had figured it was safe to roam the upstairs again. had been since 1 hour after they had left for the river. so i held a firm hold of Diesel's collar when i opened the door. and sure enough misty was just around the corner. as soon as she realized he was back, she ran back through the gait and down to the basement. Daphne on decided to retreat to our bedroom window and was shaking in her pants. i directed Diesel to Owen's room just for the time it took to pick up Daphne and send her back downstairs. Poor girl. she needs a lot of time to adjust.

I'll have to see if Andy would blog too, because i don't know much about how the trek to the river went, aside from Owen trying to walk with 2 walking stick and Diesel steeling one of them on him.

tomorrow, we're going in town and probably take him with us.

Week one

The first day home, Diesel wasn't interested in eating, i walked him around with the leash and tried to work on his pulling. walk a few step, then stop, every time he start pulling. it helped a bit but it's going to be a learning process.

Monday: in the morning i went for a walk with Diesel on the trail and on my way back, around 10 am, there's a guy that was coming over to look at our sun room. as he got out of the car, diesel started pulling and an other part of his leash gave out and he took off running to greet the newcomer. i was afraid he was going to run away but he didn't, so from there i started playing fetch in the yard. spending a lot of his energy like that. I'm glad that man loved dogs too hehe

My mother also came to meet Diesel, so she wouldn't be a stranger when she come back the next day to babysit my daughter while we had an apointment and some errands to do.

Then hubby and kids took him for walk on the trail twice. and he finally did some bowel movement at both trail outings. and when he came home, ate a few bites and went to sleep for the rest of the day/night... at 5:30 pm.



Tuesday, i tried to tire Diesel out some before we had to leave so he wouldn't be too hyper when we'd be gone. i called a few times to see how things were doing and my mom reported that all was going great on each call. it's just a few minutes before we came back that my daughter stood on his blanket staring face to face and Diesel must have felt cornered and invaded in his comfort zone... he snapped at her bruising the bridge of her nose and breaking the skin lightly there and at the tip of her upper lip. my mother scorned him 2-3 time saying "NO" and my daughter cried for a while. She'll have to learn to respect the dog. Puppies need personal space too. and Diesel is also learning to stay away from them when he want to be left alone from them.

Wednesday, took the kids for a walk on the trail with Diesel while supper finished cooking. asked the kids to keep up with me but stay behind me as i was playing fetch as we were walking along. at some point, Diesel was standing in front of me and Owen ended up behind him as i threw the ball and Diesel rammed into Owen, propelling him to the ground. he was shocked and felt like crying but i told him i asked him to stay behind me and to get up. he realised it was his fault for not listening and went behind me... Vivian still didn't want to listen so i asked Owen to explain to her why it was important to stand behind me... the rest of the walk, she stuck to my behind like glue. Diesel ate his first 2 full meal that day. i think it's on that walk that Diesel scuffed his back food pad some. didn't see it bleed, maybe a little tender but doesn't change his way of walking.

Thursday, played a bit around the yard, my mom shows up in the afternoon for my nap when my husband is at work, but i decided to give Diesel 30 minute walk on the trail before to head for my pillow. took some pictures while playing fetch on the trail.








Friday, Diesel ate his breakfast but it was rainny. not so much early on when i took him to play for 30 minutes but around 10-11 am when he was going to go outside, he changed his mind when he saw the raindrops. stayed in the house and been lazy most of the day.

Please keep in mind that my mind is fusy and i might have mixed a few events around and forgot some details as i try to remember a whole week hehe

Today, (Saturday) took Diesel out before the kids got up around 7 am. played frisbee for a while. then breakfast. I tried to clean up a bit around the kitchen, then lunch and after that i asked the kids if they wanted to go outside to play with Diesel, they both said yes, but only Vivian got ready to go out and took her lawn mower bubble maker to stroll around. Owen watched from the sun room until my mother showed up for my nap. Diesel went to greet her. she got Owen ready to go outside too, and stayed with the kids out while i went back in with Diesel. after my nap, made supper, washed the kids, even cut Owen's hair and after they were in bed, i took Diesel out for an other hour of intense Frisbee mania. he found a patch of snow at the back of the yard and went crazy rolling around in it. all the power to him hehe. look like he loves winter.

now, what does the kitty cats think of Diesel? Daphne is petrified, will sleep in the ceiling down in the basement's bathroom if she has a chance. or will stay at the far back of the basement in hiding for now. it took her a month to start tolerating Misty, the second cat, that we had just adopted last September. Misty, is, a bit more brave. she will come up to the gate and study Diesel. at first there was a lot of hissing too, and then walking away. but now she just sit there for a while, while he stand at the top on the other side of the gate. I guess i must admit that one day, someone forgot to close the gait and Diesel saw Daphne go by and started chasing after her, all the way down to the far back of the basement. so poor Daphne has a hard time believing there's any safe place in the house. we try to give her the close quarters that we originally gave Misty when she was first introduced. so even if the gait was accidentally left opened again, Diesel wouldn't be able to go after her again.

Diesel, The First Day

Diesel entered our family on April 27th 2008

We knew we wanted a dog for quite some time, we were just not sure about the timing. on monday april 21st, just before to shut down my computer, i had the urge to look on the Moncton SPCA site for available dogs. saw one that seem suitable for our house. i let her run through my mind for the night, she had been there for 9 months, so i thought she wouldn't be moving quickly. her name was Misty and i remember when i went to pick up our Misty, the cat, they had asked me to specify if i was after the cat or the dog... we could've had her back then. but after a night of sleep, i decided to look for her again. she was gone, just like that.

so i started looking in a wider range of pet shelters. found Lexi in Oromocto. her description was all we needed, good with everybody, great with kids, dog and cats too. so i emailed about her, filled the form. I figured that with my husband's work shift, we'd only be able to go get her on saturday at the earliest. And the lady told me to phone her on friday to make sure she was still there and she would reserve her from friday to saturday. after pondering about it and worrying that she could be gone faster then we could get there, we figured it would be easier to get her on thursday, so wendnesday, i called to inform them about our plan, they said they would reserve her, but then i called back because i had forgotten to ask about crate and collar size. that's when they informed me that a couple was undecided between her and Benny. so i had to call back later to find out that Lexi was the one they adopted. i was dissapointed and figured it would take me months to find an other one, screening description carefully for one that would work well with our family of 2 kids (3 and 5) and 2 cats.

I was very surprised when my MSN buddy Nancy told me about an add at work for a lovable dog to give away due to moving in the city. I called quickly, asked a few question that would reassure me that he'd be good with our kids and made arrangement to go get him. I was not prepared to let an other good dog slip past me. especialy that Nancy told me that usualy things that are advertised for 5 minutes are already fought over. Oddly enough, i was the only one who showed interest in 4 days, at the time we picked him up.

That evening, my mother in law offered to follow us there and bring him back to our house for us, since it could be tricky to have 2 young kids and a new dog in the same vehicle. it's a good thing they live on the way there. I supose she is right, but i still wonder if it's just an excuse because she couldn't wait to see our new dog hehe regardless, it had been a while since i seen them and the kids would have an other chance to see their grand parents too. I felt a little weird mobilizing so many peoples to get a dog and was worried what the kind family giving away their dog would think.

We left Sunday morning at 10:30 after i came back from church. we packed some food to have lunch at my in law's place. then we took the wrong road, and had to figure out how to connect to the right one from there. it extended our trip a little bit. there was some doubts at time if we were on the right track but we made it in time. at 3h00 pm as planned. We took half an hour to get to know Diesel before taking our journey back home with him. Diesel and the kids were excited and running all over the place, but i knew this was just a newness factor. Diesel was good, he didn't try to jump on us like some dog do. he only smelled our knees.

we made a stop at the Irving Big Stop on the way back to have something to eat for supper. i took Diesel out in case he wanted to pee. he pulled left and right trying to elude me into loosing grip of the leach that he already had partly chewed in my in law's vehicle. we made some knots in it and i tied the handle part to his collar as it had the longest unbroken part. I think at that point he was very confused and was hoping he could find his way back home. when i saw that he wasn't going to do anything, decided to put him back in the vehicle so we could go eat, but everybody else had gone in the store and my dear father in law didn't have the keys. i wasn't going to stay outside while everybody else ate, so i figured, hey, i have the keys to our minivan, why not put him in there. open the windows some so he wouldn't overheat and go rejoin everyone else. they were comming out of the Irving saying there was too big of a lineup so we were going to continue toward home and find some place to eat on that way. i had calculated at that time that we might make it home around 7:30 pm and if i was to feed everybody at home it could take over an other hour to cook, so we wouldn't eat till 8:30 pm? then my parents in law would have nearly an other hour to drive back home, and they have a dog at home that would have his legs crossed. Diesel seem to settle well in our minivan so we decided that we'd be ok to do the rest of the trip with Diesel with us and my in laws could go home. the trip did go well.

i took Diesel around the yard when we got home but he was still not comfortable doing anything until around 10pm.

So that was Diesel's first day with us. he slept on the blanket we brought with us for him, at the foot of our bed.