Kibbles and Bits

It’s under my fingernails, it’s in the pockets of my jeans and coats and the smell, oh the smell. While I dislike it, Lucee and Josie love it. Especially Josie, if you haven’t guessed it’s treats and I haven’t had to carry them since Josie was about 18 months. I have kibbles and bits in my all of my pockets and the smell of the tastiest treats isn’t so great. I am clicker training and it won’t last forever and if someone doesn’t understand then they’ve probably not clicker trained or trained a dog in a completely positive manner. I love the clicker in less than three weeks Lucee has mastered sit, down and a one-minute down stay. I no longer click her sits and downs and she rarely gets more than a good girl and a pat. She does her sit and downs verbally and with a hand signals. She has the verbal command for stay as well as the hand signal. I am still clicking and treating the stay. This one takes much longer to condition than the others. My goal is to have her down stay in one room while I move around the house and not move from the spot until I release her. I am up to one minute, where I walk 50 feet with my back turned, decent progress for a puppy that three weeks ago was untrained and had absolutely no manners.

Slowly she is losing her Fang nickname. The mouthing is a tougher issue; I am no longer a chew toy. All the training and learning to play games and plenty of chew toys has helped. But as with any toddler, it takes a while to truly get the point. I have found that the less I talk, raise my voice and the more I use body language the more responsive she is too me. Yesterday I didn’t say a word to her and her behavior was impeccable, she even stopped chewing on Josie. I’ve noticed that the more I or someone else tenses their body or the louder we Lucee is talked to the more amped she gets and that’s when I or the other person become the human chew toy. She’s telling me to shut up. When I relax and stop talking, she calms too.

What a teaching moment from my puppy. I’ve been teaching her manners and proper behavior for the human world and she reminds me that I also need to remember that she is a dog and I too need to learn her world. If I stay calm and firm, she listens and doesn’t shut down. When we are both calm, we have fun.

Kibbles and bits left in my pockets and under my nails is an easy price to pay for a happy, well-balanced relationship with my dog.

Until next time, Woof!