A new chase friend.

Once again Franklin Park has been a place for my dog to make friends.  He's still got a bad approach to any dog he meets by jumping on two legs at the end of the leash and yelping, but at least at times he'll break it off when I yell (so I'm heard, never angrily) a command.  He hadn't made a chase friend in a couple of years, just sniff and hang around dog friends since the first year.  Happily, he made a chase around friend Tuesday, and the owner graciously sent me this photo she took.  If she gives permission I'll put the pictures of them together up in the next blog.

As far as human friends, he's changed a lot this year, making a small bunch of instant friends with people he barely knows, and staying amicable with them.  On the other hand he still takes a dislike to many that try and approach him, doing some angry lunging.  He is also a big traitor sometimes, getting angry  and soft nipping at people that thought they knew him.  He is the most frustrating dog to figure out in that regard I've ever known.

Dogs his size.

This spring Ben Franklin Park seems to be filled with little dogs and owners.  Magnet did his typical crazed jumping bark greeting, and this friendly Chihuahua/Mini Pinscher mix was affected.  He insisted on barking as much.  It wasn't permanent though.  As we were walking toward home after twenty minutes of mostly people socializing, a medium sized pit-mix walked by him and his owners, and he was back to his calm collected self.  I hope Magnet picked up on that. 

I offered his owner a job, as this picture came from her phone she kindly emailed me on the spot.  She has a knack for taking many shots and picking the best.  I need a new head shot for my main website. 

Even though the two dogs decided to bark at each other incessantly, they did so in a controlled manor, and I think with time they might be good friends.

Looking at the Anniversary picture in the post below, I'm laughing at how fast the dog bed in the crate was destroyed, despite my plan to "...close the door..."  I now have a bolster mat in there, and I drilled a hole so the loop of the mat holds it inside.

Anniversary

I've had Magnet a full year as of last week.  Here's a picture I wanted to share.  He rips up his dog beds quickly, so my remedy was to put one in a crate, and if he starts to tear on this one at least I can close the door during the day and preserve the bed a while.  He's down to three counting this one.  One is actually a pad, with a two inch high padded rim, and he's left that one alone so far.  He'll flop it over his ball, and pretend to dig it up.  When he finds the ball he actually gives a surprised look.

Update: December 2012

Here's today's picture.  He leaves this ball by my feet when I go to sleep.   He does like to play when I shut off the lights at night, sometimes annoying me for as much as a half hour, but I don't think he actually goes on with the football hiking past then.  He's back-slid on his heel.  I don't know why, but I'm not going to train him much until spring.  Right behind him is the carpet runner I leave upside down so he doesn't get out of site and stepped on when I step out of bed  He sleeps in his own beds (he's got four) but likes to hang out here when I least expect it. 

Today my dog became officially mine.  As I look at the footer picture of him here, I see both nervousness and confidence.  He had major fear issues when he came to me, but I wanted to show you a picture of his expanded confidence on this occasion.  He's just being camera shy on this rainy day, so next post I promise to post another picture.  The park where I'd been ranging him, the term for letting him loose, has been fenced off while they repair a washed out road.  He might be protesting,  because he seems to be under less command on the short opportunities to let him loose.  Conversely, he's continuing to become a good heeler.  He's got his really sharp looking moments now.

Setbacks and Bliss

A major obstacle to Magnet's training, besides my health, is the seasonal change his coat goes through from summer to winter.  He's basically non-shedding, but without combing his hair will mat badly.  The twist is that during the winter I could comb him as little as once every three weeks, and during the strongest heat this summer he's needed a combing every two days.  He's super duper about sitting still for the combings, gritting and putting up with the snarls getting pulled out.  Unfortunately, like any member of the animal world, and rightly so, he feels he's entitled the next day and backslides on a lot of his training.

He's extremely controllable when he does a few short barks at someone passing in the hall outside the apartment, but without calling him with "Come" he'll continue a little longer.  My building is set up so all bedrooms are the furthest from the entrance, so I'm tempted to let him have his will, but being a bit cautious I give him the "Come" and then walk to the peep hole and check.  When I'm not home I put a 'small dog spray bark collar' on him.  I have a standard bark collar that my 7 lb. chihuahua was happy with until his last six months of life.  Magnet, however, is obviously uncomfortable with that heavier version.  He's nearly perfect about being quiet on the collar, with only the clear spray.  For those of you lost, the spray collars are just that, usually spraying a mist of water or citronella when the sensor detects a loud noise.  That's all they do, so they're very gentle, and they're also very effective, comprising a scientific breakthrough.

He adores his rawhide twists.  He goes through one a day.  He likes bully sticks too, even more than rawhide, but they stink a bit, and he's almost as happy with the rawhide sticks, so that's what he's been getting.  He did knaw on the hoof I bought him the first week, about a month ago, for about an hour, but he hasn't gone back to it.

I make sure he doesn't go without his rubber ball.  Youtube video coming soon.

Rocks and Memorial Day

I'm very happy to report Magnet's rock collecting days are over!  I kept them, since I had a feeling he was 'establishing' a home, and the collection grew to seven before he suddenly stopped grabbing them along the walk.  A couple of times I tried to take them away from him, a couple of times I successfully got them from him, and a couple of times I just let him happily carry them home, including the last time before he stopped his habit.  The only problem left is I'm afraid to move them from a corner of my kitchen counter, for fear he'll try and re-establish the collection.

He's got a great way of entertaining himself with a rubber ball.  He does a type of 'hike' with his front paws, and then chases the ball.  Usually about once a day he brings the ball to me for a fast game of fetch.

Here he's doing some subtle reverse training, trying to squeeze in another game when I'm trying to recover from a long day.  I gave in, and he was satisfied with just one toss.  He must've figured out I was tired.

He also likes to bury the ball in the blankets on the couch.  On the back of the couch a piece carpet runner can be seen.  When I get up, I just flip the plastic down with the nubs sticking up, and he goes back to playing his floor games.  He doesn't want to walk on them.