Military Nesties
meltoine
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Ojo
Can you recommend come dog-training resources? Our newest adoptee knows the basics, but I'd like to work with her some more and I've never really trained a dog. My dad always did the training with our dogs when I was growing up and DH trained our other puppy long before I met him.
Re: Ojo
Consistency is key. If you say sit a few times and the dog doesn't sit, you've basically trained him that he doesn't actually have to sit. If our dogs don't listen once, we give the 'watch me' command, then give the original command one more time. After that, I walk away and wait a bit before trying again. Continuing the 'sit, sit, sit, sit' reinforces negative behavior and teaches the dog you'll eventually give him what he wants even if he doesn't listen, or he may start to think the command is really 19 words.
Long term, entombing in basic and intermediate obedience classes are so worth it. Wilson's my third and I still find classes beneficial because we get to train in an environment with new distractions. Plus, that one on one time when the pup is earning treats like crazy and doing everything he can think of to keep you happy is really quite the bonding experience.
Thanks! The first part is really helpful. Onyx (puppy #1) is great at waiting until we give the okay to eat/go out but Allie (#2) doesn't quite grasp that concept yet.
Hopefully we can get Allie into some classes at our next duty station. Unfortunately, here we're really in the boonies and there are no classes closer than San Antonio. 150 miles is a bit far to go for doggie training classes LOL. I'll definitely start with the NILIF now though. Thanks again.
Have you asked any local vets? We found a random behaviorist who did lessons in her backyard when we lived in the middle of nowhere. It ended up being great because my dogs had to deal not only with other dogs, but cats, chickens and horses
Really, incorporating NILIF is what will keep you sane. I have videos on my phone of my pups at dinner time...I'll see if I can post one. To get to the point of the dogs waiting for you to release them, if the dog stands up or tries to move towards the food bowl, pick it up. I know it can be frustrating and it seems like they'll never catch on, but if you stay calm and stick with it, she'll get it eventually.
Another thing that helps at meal time is that their food never goes straight from the bag (or fridge) to the bowl to the floor. We dish up the food and let it sit on the counter for at least ten minutes. That's why two of the dogs were already waiting at the line. I scrub that part of the floor by hand because they drool so much.
I asked a tech at the vet we go to, but there are a couple of other vets in town. I'll call tomorrow and see if there are any private classes around.
That video is great - they're so adorable! I tried to make them wait when I let them out a little while ago. Onyx did great. Allie sat, then as soon as I opened the door, bolted past me LOL. She's going to take some work.