Here's our entry:
p.s. Just wanted to say thank you again for all the advice and encouragement from all of you on Darwin and her day care issues. I will admit we do baby her sometimes, but I am trying to make a concious effort to not reward her fear with attention. Being a new "parent" you read alot of things on how to raise and train your puppy, but actually trainging yourself to follow that advice takes some practice. We'll keep working with her and hopefully she'll be at least half the confident well-behaved dog that Honey is.
Oh glad you reminded us. I think we will put in an entry! We met them recently through your blog!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely try to teach darwin the toy thing! Starting with tricks that are something they sort of do on their own is a great idea. I taught Moose to Bow that way.
Babying a dog is one of the best things about having a dog! Do you watch the show 'its me or the dog' on animal planet? I really like it because the trainer shows how you can love and spoil your dog in a good way. It is a good place to learn some training tips. Did you see Honey's pile of books? I have read some of them and they were awesome. You are absolutely right that training yourself is what is mostly involved. Understanding how dogs think (or don't ;-) ) is a big part of it too. All of the training troubles I have are because I am not sure how to communicate with Moose, not because Moose won't learn. It can be frustrating sometimes but mostly it is really rewarding. Anyways, I look forward to hearing about Darwin learning to put away her toys! It is a kind of complex behavior for them but if you take it slow (unlike me!) they will get it!
OH, I think you're doing great!! :-) Please don't think I was criticising you or anything - I think it is wonderful how much thought and effort you put into Darwin's upbringing - she is a very lucky pup. We made tons of mistakes with Honey as well so that is one reason I always ramble on sometimes because I don't want others to suffer what we had to learn the hard way! :-) But just keep on doing what you're doing and I'm sure with a bit of time, she will grow up into a lovely, confident adult. It's just reminding ourselves (the humans!) of the little things, that's all! :-)
ReplyDeleteHsin-Yi
I second Honey's comments.
ReplyDelete"Being a new "parent" you read alot of things on how to raise and train your puppy, but actually trainging yourself to follow that advice takes some practice."
Boy, ain't THAT the truth. the key is consistency...the more you're consistent, the more your dog will understand you. Little things are big things to a dog. like walking through a door first, being first to eat, asking permission for EVERYTHING is really the key to a good dog. the fact that you care enough to read and try is more than what most people do and just allow their dogs to be "whatever" (poorly behaved). I couldn't imagine them as parents!
trying is half the battle to a good dog. i've had to try many things with my "naughty" dog. some things worked, and some things didn't. there are so many methods out there and I'm a firm believer in finding the ONE method that works for both YOU and YOUR DOG. not what works for someone else's dog. I've had lots of trial and error with my naughty dog Loki (a resuce at 1.5 years old and with some bad habits). he's coming along nicely. overall, people would NEVER know he was once naughty. but i'm raising the bar with him because he's a "working" dog and I push him hard in new training. things i can do with him people can't believe, but I see that those things can be done better, sharper, more precisely. why do i do it? because i know he CAN and wants to do it!
anyway, thank you for coming by Wild Dingo to wish juno well. She appreciated it!
we'll stay in touch with Darwin! (love the name and he's beautiful!)
~wags-n-wiggles~
Wild Dingo
love the prancing - with the head held high! I am sure she'll turn out great - with such great parents :o)
ReplyDeleteDon't ya love how they prance! :) I love it when Nala does this. Hopefully the daycare issues get better and yes, it does take some time as new parents to get it all down but it sounds like you are doing a great job! :)
ReplyDeleteAmber & Nala
How cute is the prancing! You are doing a great job with Darwin. She is your baby and it is such good practice for the your own babies one day. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteWe learn so many things with every dog we have. Dexter is our fifth dog and is benefitting from all the mistakes made with the previous four, but still so much to learn. Not as easy as it looks.
ReplyDeleteMango Momma
That's a great photo, and yes, the yellow thing in the background does look like an abstract version of Darwin prancing :)
ReplyDeleteBehr Behr :)
Your so right the art does look like Darwin... great take on yellow!
ReplyDelete