Yoshi and Trek Training Diary - June 2008

Feedback is welcome:

Those of you that were in the June 14th Continued will be amused to know 
that the walled city that
seemed to work so well for Yoshi (soft crate surrounded by a sheet 
covered expen.), was completely outdone in the June 15 Intro by the 
mcmansion (I'm joking Lisa - please don't be offended) that Lisa built 
for Trigger which included a soft crate, flooring, 2 paneled expens - 1 
was too small, a hot tub, and his personal attendant, massage therapist, 
and architect Lisa.  We all should be as lucky as Trigger.

Trooper also has his own walled city as well complete with room service 
(a manners minder with Sarah carrying the remote). 

Rachel and Kubby had taken over the Southlands behind the auditors.

The room was resembling a bunch of fiefdoms.  Good thing there were no 
wars declared despite the occasional saber rattling. I guess good fences 
do make good neighbors. :)

The cool thing about having the expen around Yoshi's crate is that I 
could pull the front sheet up and let him watch canine reality TV 
complete with his personal attendant (me) feeding him an assortment of 
yummy refreshments (Red Barn, Natural Balance, peanut butter, cheerios, 
bread sticks).

Thank you all for a productive and surprisingly entertaining weekend.  
We all have very lucky dogs.

Ellen

http://www.bcrescue.org/dominancetest.html

1) Does your pet get out of your way when you walk?

Usually as they don't like being crunched, but tripping me is an effective attention getter.
[Serious note: If you train in formal obedience you don't want your dog to move till you tell them to.]

2) Who has the best seat in the house?

3) Who walks through the door first?

4) Who eats first?

They eat when I feed them, and they know that.

5) Is your dog obedience trained?

[They have some good advice finally.]

6) Who owns the food/toys/treats?

Trek's crate is a vertible dragon's lair, but we just clean it out every so often.

7) Who walks whom?

[quote]
>Again, alpha dogs lead the way and if your dog is pulling you down the street in a waterskiing fashion, he thinks he's the leader and can go where he wants.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.
A true alpha dog doesn't need to prove herself with such silly demonstrations.
But loose leash walking is a very useful thing.

8) Can you groom your pet?

9) Who wins staring contests?

[quote]
Direct eye contact in dog language is a threatening gesture. Your dog should not want to look directly at your eyes if you lock your eyes on his. Submissive dogs turn their heads away.

Well sort of.  Direct eye contact is a threatening gesture, but you would be far better off becoming well versed in calming signals and controlling resources than engaging in adolescent staring contests.  Staring back just invites more aggression - is that what you want?

10) Does your pet growl or snap at you?