Tag Archive | obedience

Computer Virus–and First Day of Real Obedience Training

First, I hate people who create computer viruses. I know, we shouldn’t hate, but I HATE people who do that. I wish there was a magical thing that we could erect on our computers that if someone created a virus, for every computer they infected, the person who created it and sent it out to the world would end up with a human virus. So that means that they would have millions of viruses wracking their body. Yep, If I could create such a weapon, I’d do it. They would be in the bathroom for days and weeks and months, depending on how widespread their computer virus was.

Now I feel better while I’m on my laptop, that is great for trips, but a pain to use at home because I don’t have a great way to sit and write on it, and I don’t know half my passwords, so when I go to create my blog for blogger for a multi-author blog I’m on, I don’t know what the password is, etc, etc, etc. And I don’t want to create a new one, forget, and then have the same problem on my main PC.

Second, Max and I have been working with THE collar. We had a full day–on and off–every time we had to go outside to potty. And in the house on some commands.

The trainer told me that we don’t say ZAP the dog, but “touch.” Bull. You zap the dog. Lightly, if he doesn’t pay any attention to you and keeps pulling. A little higher setting to get his attention, etc. If he’s listening, I lower the setting. So when he’s moving with me and he’ll look up to see that I’m still beside him and he’s doing the right thing, the setting is going down. I’ll start it out low this morning, and when he doesn’t listen, I’ll increase the setting until he finally responds. What’s neat about this program is that their dogs are off leash and just stay with the trainers. They don’t run off and that’s one of the things you should be able to train them. It might take a while, but I think Max will get it sooner than later.

As for going for his dog poop, I was prepared. I still had it on the lower button setting, but at the highest number because he’s so quick that I had to react quickly and with enough of an emphasis to tell him no. He went for it. I zapped him, pulled him away, not hard, just enough to get him out of reach, but he was already moving away from it. So we’ll have to keep after it until he realizes I mean no on that nasty habit.

So he pulled, like he usually does. Balked about sitting, which he’s always been good about, but he doesn’t like the zapper, I mean, collar, to tell him to do it. But after the last time of going out last night, he was really good about following my lead. He tends to rush for the door to get inside, so we were practicing stopping, then starting so he knew that I was the one in charge of when he goes in.

Inside, he sat for me a few times with just the command and the collar. They said to use the collar always, even for commands he knows. Outside, I had to gently force his bottom down, which I’ve never had to do. *sigh* I’m sure it’s because outside there is a high level of distraction.

So we had to practice Come, as in walking the dog and getting it to follow my lead and stay on one side of me always. That’s fun. NOT. Because I also have to have Tanner on the leash. So I’m trying to get them both to stay on my right side and not criss-cross in front of me or get behind me.

Max is very white and has some silver and black

We had to do: Sit, by command and collar. We had to practice Place. That’s where you have something slightly elevated off the floor and the dog gets up on it. We practiced it on the individual lesson on top of a metal briefcase since the trainer forgot his cot. It was slippery and Max didn’t care for it, but I stood next to him and every time he’d climb down, I’d guide him back up with his leash, the command, and a collar….nudge.

I’m going to get a cot, because it will be more convenient at the dog training. But at home, I think I’ll do a variety of things so he gets used to if I don’t have a cot with me, and use anything, if I tell him that’s the Place, he’ll have the message down pat.

So at home, I brought out the Christmas wrapper box that is under a bed. I knew it would be slippery too, so I put the Christmas rug on it that has a skid free bottom, and perfect.

Place was not happening. Soooo, I tried place and then a treat. Now, I’m training Max, right? Tanner got what I wanted immediately, and jumped on top of the box and then Max. They were so cute. Both waiting for their treats.

Place, dash for the box, get on top, Sit, wait for treats. Then I did it a few times with no treats, and Come, so they’d come to me, Sit, and Place again.

For me, their kibble is as much a treat as a treat. So rather than feed them tons of treats, I can feed them their tiny piece of kibbles.

But it is funny when I see them both training and Tanner getting it first. I’ll do collar training with him later when Max has this all figured out. 🙂

As to my computer virus, hopefully Best Buy will have it fixed by Sunday. I was REALLY hoping they’d have it fixed today since he said it would be easy to do.

Okay, off to work on edits. I’m so behind because I really can’t write on my laptop all day. I just don’t have a good set up for it at all.

Have a super Saturday!! 🙂

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

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Can You Really Do It?

Jan27

I loved Yoda in Star Wars when he said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

I always think of this when I’m writing a book. Not for me, but often for my characters. I’ll have where they’re going to try to do something, and then, no, they are doing it. Not trying. Oh, well, sure, sometimes they have to try because the doing might not happen.

But I love the concept.

My dad always said, “You can do whatever you put your mind to do.”

It’s true. We had so many daunting feats to accomplish when I was in training in Army ROTC. Scale walls without a ladder, when I’m just a little over 5’4″ and I’m not sure how tall the walls were, but they were LOTS taller than me. Now, before anyone says, women! We had guys who were just as short as us and we had to do buddy work to ensure everyone made it over. Or cross a water obstacle with only three boards, none of which were long enough to use, without getting wet. If you were the leader for those exercises and you left a man/woman behind just because he or she was too short to make it…or if you didn’t try to use the best resources available on the water obstacle challenge, ie, always ask the engineer student in the group and hope he or she had a clue, you were marked WAY down.

Now, we weren’t training to be elite forces, just in how to be leaders, because many of us were going into support roles, like me as a personnel officer. So no climbing tall walls in my normal line of work.

But if it’s really worth doing, then keep working at it until you get it done. Now sometimes, it’s just really, really not worth the effort. And then? Regroup and do something that is.

Training the puppies in proper behavior is my goal. If I don’t deter Max from eating his stool, he does it!!! I know it’s because the breeder just let all the dogs go out a dog door and he wasn’t ever supervised. So he was hungry, he’s always hungry, and hey, it’s his meal, fully processed. I know, totally gross.

I looked it up, love the Internet, and experts say that puppies will often do this. Tanner doesn’t. But I’ve always had him on a leash, and he does what a dog–in my estimation–should do, he does his little backward kick at the grass to “cover” it up and then he’s off to explore.

The problem with Max is that though I clean up the yard CONSTANTLY, at oh-dark-thirty in the morning and after 7 at night, it’s too dark to see where he’s gone. So in the morning in the dark, I try to take them to spots that they haven’t been the night before, because it’s again dark and I can’t tell what’s where. But I also have to really keep hold of Max’s leash because he’s ready to whip around and get his morning meal if I don’t yank him away from it. ugh.

And then there are the times that I think I’ve cleaned up everything, it’s hard to tell sometimes, and he finds a tasty treat. It doesn’t matter how much I shout at him or try to force him to drop it, it’s gone as quickly as he swallows his food. He’s so cute here. How can he be so gross? He’s a DOG, I remind myself. It’s perfectly normal to him.

*sigh*

I’m sure the collar training, a zap every time he grabs a piece, will deter him. Still waiting on the trainer to call for first training. I try working with him with just verbal good dogs when he comes with me and doesn’t go for the smorgasboard, but that’s so rare, that it’s just not working.

However, I WILL succeed! I have to. I will not try. I will do. Because it’s just too gross not to win in this battle between puppy and the poop.

Have you ever had something you have to do, and you feel you can’t do it? What have you done to keep after it until it’s finally accomplished, and you tell yourself, “See? I knew I could do it!”

Writing a book can be like that too. Daunting.

I have: Chapter One done. Just the Chapter heading.

Word count: 2

Words needed: 79,998

Where do I go from there? But deadline’s looming and I WILL write all the rest of those words before deadline, edit it a million times, turn it in, and start all over again.

Today, I will be at 55,000 on A SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble. I won’t try. I will be there. What a wonderful number that is compared to when I began with the two easiest words. Chapter One. And yet, I still have 25,000 words to go. Oh wow, now that sounds really great. I was thinking it would be more. Yes!!! I can do it! And I’m off to do it!

Have a super wonderful Tuesday. Mine just got even better!