Trying to be the Alpha Dog

Adam's vlog reminded me of how a dog is supposed to behave.  How my previous German Shepherd / Anatolian Shepherd behaved.  


Rocco was a very beautiful and intelligent handful.  It took all I had to be alpha with him.  We went round and round and round when he was a youngster.  I couldn't give an inch or he'd take five miles.  I had to be really on top of my game for the first five years I had him.  No relaxing.  Ever.  There were days I was sure the dog was smarter than me.  I got help from one of the Sheriff's Department canine trainers when he was a year old.  That's how I learned that I ALWAYS had to be in charge.  I've had dogs my whole life and this was a whole new way of thinking about dogs.  This dog, Rocco, needed a very strong leader.  And my Sheriff buddy turned me into one.  The results were awesome.  Rocco turned into an incredibly well behaved and trained dog.  I could take him anywhere and never worry about his reactions to various situations.  He was good with any size dog and young children too.  It is not easy for a 100 or so pound dog to be gentle and not knock a toddler over, but he was a pro at it.  He also did well with seniors, walkers, wheelchairs, shaky hands & all.  I regularly took him to public celebrations like Fourth of July where he mingled with the crowds, allowed anyone to pet him, and was an absolute pleasure to be with.  I got a lot of compliments on him.  As he got older, I was finally able to relax a little bit and enjoy the wonderful dog he was.


I got Lilly Ann at 15 months old when Rocco was 12 1/2 years old.  She had been severely abused and was terrified of everything.  She was too scared to challenge anything.  I didn't see the need for me to be the super strong alpha leader.  Instead I was patient, sweet, loving, and worked really hard to earn her trust & bring her out of her shell.  It worked.  She became very confident, no longer terrified, and was naturally a good girl.  So good, I didn't realize she was challenging me and very effectively running my household without me noticing by the time she turned 4.  I was told by a trainer friend that this is a very common problem with Australian Shepherds & that I should congratulate myself on having a normal dog with normal problems.  Oh, and I should get my butt in gear and start being the one in charge again.


Maks came along at two months old - a baby that had been dumped in my neighborhood.  It was exactly one month after Rocco died.  Maks was naturally a good dog too with a strong desire to please me.  Still is.  


So, I have two dogs that don't outright defy me.  They like to please me.  I relaxed way too much and let them take over running the house.  They're good at it.  Especially Lilly Ann.  But, Adam's very well trained dog reminded me that I am supposed to be the one in charge and we have been working on that this week.  


It's exhausting being the one in charge.  I find myself having to think about every interaction with them ahead of time and decide exactly what behaviors I want from them & not proceed until I get those behaviors.  


Maks has responded well & is much calmer in general now.  My sister came over last night and was surprised at his ability to sit calmly without being told to.  The changes made this week have been very good for him.  


Lilly Ann, on the other hand, has fought me every step of the way - looking the other way when told to do something or flat out turning her back to me and walking off.  She does not like having someone else run HER house.  But, since she has figured out that I mean business, she is reluctantly complying.  Her willingness to do as she is told on my schedule instead of her own has improved.


Today we went for a structured walk with me in charge and them being made to walk beside & slightly behind me.  This is how I walked Rocco for the first five years of his life - I had to. It is the first time I've made Maks and Lilly Ann go on this type of walk.  Usually they're on retractable leashes. 


Doing this with both dogs was exhausting.  Fortunately, Maks figured out what was expected pretty quick, so my left arm was saved from much pulling.  Lilly Ann took time to figure it out.  Then she took time to decide she'd comply.  My right arm paid the price.  Boy is it sore!  However, something clicked in her brain today and she has been happily looking to me for direction & then complying all evening.  YAY!!!


I don't expect Maks or Lilly to turn into Rocco.  I know they are different dogs with different capabilities.  However, they have not reached their full potential and it's my job to get them there.


No more Miss Pushover at my house.  From now on, I am the one in charge!

More Snow!

It is snowing yet again here in Middle Tennessee.  The dogs are thrilled.  Me - not so much.  I tried to get to work today.  It didn't work.  Couldn't even manage to get onto the freeway.  After half an hour of trying to get out of my neighborhood & onto the freeway & not succeeding due to traffic & snow, I told my boss I was giving up and going home.  It took me another half an hour to get home, slipping and sliding the whole way.  By the time I got there, the new snow had completely covered my tracks leading out of the driveway as well as the spot where the car had been parked.  I spun and slid my way into the driveway and have no intentions of leaving again today.  


I took a couple of videos after getting home.  The first is of Maks and Lilly Ann in the back yard.  The second is of Maks refusing to come in the house.  I used my digital camera to take the videos, so the second one is shot sideways - I didn't know you couldn't rotate a video like you can rotate a picture.  See, one does learn something new every day.  Enjoy!


** It did eventually warm up a bit - enough for the roads to be clear - and I was able to go to work for a half day.  The severe traffic congestion was due to two different major accidents on the freeway.  One was a four car pile up.  The second was a two car crash that happened as a result of the four car accident.  


Video #1: Maks & Lilly in the back yard

Video #2: Maks refusing to come in the house

Putting Toys Away

My furry kids know that their toys need to be put away before bedtime. Preferably in the toy box they never use. They have two options, they can get their toys picked up and out of the way on their own -or- I will take care of picking them up and put them all in the toy box. They don't like having to sort through the toy box to find the particular toy they're looking for, so having Mommy pick up the toys is not their favorite alternative.

I am a stickler for the toys being out of the way before bedtime for two reasons: the screaming monkey and Maks' chew toys. There is nothing quite like getting up half asleep in the middle of the night and stepping on the screeching monkey. The thing is loud and obnoxious and guaranteed to give an unsuspecting soul heart failure. As for those chew toys... have you ever stepped on a Lego in your bare feet? Chew toys aren't any better.

Lilly Ann is especially good at keeping her toys put away. Mainly because she is hiding them from Maks. Her favorite toys are the soft stuffed animals. She keeps them on her bed and hidden under my bed where Maks doesn't dare go for fear of her beating him up.

As for Maks, his favorite toys are the chew toys. We call them his "pacifiers". He has five of them. When he was younger, not being able to find a pacifier at any given moment meant something of mine was going to get destroyed. As long as there is a pacifier available, he doesn't touch anything else. So, I make sure there are always plenty available. Maks is not anywhere near as good as Lilly when it comes to putting his toys away. I end up tripping over them or stepping on them a lot. He gets yelled at for this a lot. And then the toys get put in the dreaded toy box where he has to sort through all of the unpopular toys to get his favorites back out.

This morning when I was getting ready for work I ended up laughing out loud and then getting the camera to take a picture. It hadn't dawned on me until this morning, but I haven't tripped over a chew toy once since I had surgery. It's been 6 weeks and Maks has been keeping his toys out of the way the whole time. I hadn't noticed.

What made me laugh? Maks has been hiding his toys out of the way under the rocking chair. Seeing them set neatly where they wouldn't get stepped on cracked me up. Evidently my dense boy CAN learn! And I was so oblivious I didn't notice for over a month. Tonight he had one of the chew toys out, gnawing away. When he decided he was done, he picked it up and put it neatly under the rocking chair. I'm still smiling. :)

Here is the pic I took this morning:

SNOW!

We've had a lot of snow here in middle Tennessee this week.  Six and a half inches at my house.  The furry kids have had a blast playing in it and the neighborhood kids have been quite creative in their snowman making.

"NO! I don't want to come in the house!"

A laugh for the dog people.

I'm one of those parents that spoils their pooches just a tad. Tonight's spoiling involved letting them lick whipped cream (the kind from an aerosol can) off of my hand. The cat came over to investigate. My boy got so enthusiastically excited that he managed to fling a glob of whipped cream onto the cat's back (which the cat did not notice). My boy then proceeded to chase the cat around the kitchen trying to corner him & lick the whipped cream off. There was no intention of chasing the cat. I don't even think the boy registered that the whipped cream was attached to the cat. He was just trying his best to get that darned glob of whipped cream.

Needless to say, the cat was NOT happy about this nor did he cooperate and allow the dog to lick him clean.

So, in the midst of my laughter and tears, I too began to chase the cat while telling the dog NOT to chase the cat -- yes, the dog was slightly confused. I finally caught one extremely unhappy feline and managed to scrub him down with a damp rag so that the dog would leave him in peace. Lordy it was funny!!!

The furry kids are in TROUBLE!!!

Y'all should see my house. I think the general reaction would be massive amounts of laughter and extreme relief that it's my house instead of yours. Since you'll never guess what my two canine devils did, I'll share.

I left the back door open (as I always do) while I was getting ready this morning so they can run out & play (they're inside brats). I could hear them playing tag while I was in the shower and they sounded more rambunctious than normal. When I got out of the shower I found out why. 

Like most dogs, these two like to dig and play in dirt. Since it hasn't rained recently and the ground is really hard, that wasn't a worry of mine. I just didn't account for how smart and creative my hellions are. 

They found a bag of potting soil.

That would have been bad enough by itself, but they weren't content with digging in the potting soil OUTSIDE. Nope, my little geniuses brought it IN THE HOUSE!

So now I have two absolutely filthy dogs and a living room full of potting soil. Happy Monday morning to me. :(

Oh, and I've probably ruined any and all chances at potential dates because no one in their right mind wants to deal with my "special" kids. 

Well... he TRIED!!!

Last night, as I watched thoughts of tormenting the cat enter Maks' head, I admonished him to, "be NICE to the kitty cat.". He was shaking from the amount of control it took, but Maks managed to very carefully and thoroughly cover Jack's face in puppy kisses. Relief spread across his face as I told him what a good boy he was for being so gentle and nice to the cat. Being nice to the cat is exhausting. So it makes sense that Maks would want to flop down for a bit and relax after that ordeal. He stepped away from the cat, turned around, and proceeded to sit ON the cat. OOPS!!!

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful - a perfect fall day, all sunny and warm, such a great day that it screamed for an outing to the park with the furry ones.  One of Lilly's favorite parks is Barfield-Crescent in Murfreesboro, so that was our destination yesterday afternoon.  Maks had never been to the park before, so this was his very first trip.  It probably seems strange that he's nine months old and only now going to the park for the first time, especially when I take Lilly all the time.  But, Maks hasn't been up for a park trip until now.  He just hasn't had the stamina (he is still a puppy after all) to keep up with Lilly and I for more than a two mile walk through our neighborhood.  Which means that he definitely could not manage the four mile up & down hill off road hikes that Lilly and I head out on.  With the day being absolutely perfect, I decided that he could probably manage the shorter easier loop at the park that is just about 2 1/2 miles long.  So, into the car we all got and off to the park we went. 


Driving into the park, I noticed signs saying there was a Halloween event and saw some bounce houses over by the softball fields.  I really didn't think much of it since we were headed to the other side of the park.  I probably should have paid a bit more attention.  We parked the car and headed up the trail.  All was going great, Lilly was overjoyed to be out hiking again and Maks was having a great time sniffing everything in sight.  Until... we came around a corner and met a GIANT turtle sitting on the side of the road reading a book.  Miss Social Butterfly (Lilly) got all excited and went over to inspect the person and costume and had a grand time making a new friend.  Maks hid between my knees and refused to walk past the turtle.  Just when Lilly and I had managed to convince him that it was safe to continue on the trail... a GIANT frog came walking up the path toward us.  Lilly busied herself making yet another friend, while Maks did his best to become invisible by hiding behind me.  Maks finally decided he'd trust me enough to follow Lilly and I further down the trail and we didn't run into any more characters for over a mile.  Unfortunately, on the last half of our hike all characters were in place and poor Maks was repeatedly spooked.  First it was the fairies with flapping wings, then the lights across the trail that were off until he went to step over them and someone plugged them in just at that moment, then the trombone and tuba playing lobsters, the singing raccoon, the bubble machine, and the fog machine.  At each of these Miss Lilly Ann stopped to make new friends and socialize while Maks hid behind me yet again and refused to move past the scary monster.  Lilly was quite fascinated with the singing raccoon and even got a tummy rub at that spot - it was the only place where Maks even attempted to be social, he let the raccoon talk to him and got close enough for the raccoon to pat him once on the head.  I was quite glad to be done with that portion of the trail and decided to head back to the car a different way to avoid more characters.  If you haven't figured it out by now, we walked through a children's Halloween hay ride exhibit (thus the toddler - not Maks - friendly characters).

The trail I chose to take back to the car is a gravel service road that goes past the frisbee golf section of the park.  OOPS!!!  I had unwittingly chosen the Haunted Halloween trail for teenagers and grown-ups.  Again Lilly was fascinated by the characters - gory, bloody, moaning corpses and all.  Maks however was less than appreciative.  I was afraid I was going to have to carry him past all of them.  Evidently moaning corpses are a lot scarier than trombone playing lobsters!  We finally managed to get off the service road and onto the frisbee golf course where thankfully there were no more scary characters and Maks was able to relax and enjoy the rest of our walk to the car.  Lilly, on the other hand, had so much fun making friends with all of the characters that she wanted to head back to the haunted hay ride and visit some more.  I told her we had tormented Maks enough and judging by how fast he was trotting AWAY from the goblins I was pretty sure we weren't going to be able to convince him to turn around.

I wonder if Maks will ever want to go to the park again?

Maks

Puppy kisses are wonderful!!!  That is, if they're being given to a giggling 3 year old.  As for me, as much as I love that Maks adores me, I wish he'd cut back on the amount of puppy kisses I get.  If I hold still at all while he's around, my fingers/toes/elbow... SOMETHING is going to get licked.  His favorite is when he manages to catch me with a big ol' smooch right on the kisser... YUCK!!!!!!! He's getting so big! It's getting harder to shove him away.  He uses this to his full advantage, climbing on top of me and pinning me down to get in as many wet slobbery kisses as possible before he gets shoved away.  Although I end up with most of his kisses, I'm certainly not the one who appreciates them the least - that designation would go to Jack the Cat.  Poor Jack.  Being pinned down and licked by a squirmy bouncy puppy is most definitely not his idea of a good time.  Lately I've caught Jack giving Maks looks that say, "DIE!  DIE ALREADY!!!"  To which Maks responds by giving him a big wet slobbery kiss across his face.  To Jack's dismay, everyone who sees Maks thinks he's CUTE, and he does some of the most adorable things...

Like the other night when I was filling the dishwasher & had the bottom rack pushed in and only the top rack out - I looked down to see Maks (all 35 pounds of him) standing with all four feet on top of the dishwasher door and his head inside the dishwasher licking the dishes clean. 

Or when he follows me from room to room, waiting for me to stay put long enough so he can lie down by my feet and snooze.

When he sits in the kitchen staring at the refrigerator willing it to open so that he can get to the watermelon.

And last week I woke up certain that somehow the garbage disposal had gotten turned on... it was Maks snoring away on the bed beside me.

He loves everyone and everything.  Life is met with ENTHUSIASM!!!  He's HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY about everything.  It's impossible for him to just wag his tail - his entire butt wags right along with it.  We laugh and call him "Tigger" 'cause he bounces everywhere and half the time doesn't even notice the chaos and destruction he leaves behind (such as the squashed kitty cat that used to be sleeping until it was pounced upon - on accident, of course).  With Maks everything is just one big happy bouncy accident - just like the day we found him.

Another gift from God...

Three weeks ago my friend from down the street and I were out at an old abandoned house that burnt down 50 years ago.  Our purpose for this outing was to dig up some iris, daffodils, lilac, rose, and any other plants that looked interesting.  The woman who used to live here was an avid gardener.  No, we weren't stealing (if it's abandoned it's not stealing... right???).  We were relocating neglected and abused plants to a location where they would be loved and cared for.  Now, doesn't that sound much better than stealing?  Funny thing is, I had called Jamie and asked her if she'd rather go up to Nashville and watch the fashion show of scantily clad firemen at the Southern Women's Show.  Nope, she wasn't in the mood to watch half-nekked firemen.  What woman in her right mind isn't in the mood for that???

Anyhow, God must have been watching & laughing at what was about to happen next.  My consequence for absconding with those plants.  In the middle of our digging, two puppies clambered over the disintegrating rock wall and came running toward us.  They were only about 2 1/2 months old and so hungry/thirsty that they were trying to eat the cactus plants growing around us.  So, of course, being the softy that I am - I scooped them up with the intention of figuring out where they belonged.  The nearest place was an old lumber mill, so that's where we went first.  And that's where finding two adorable fluffy puppies became a pretty big problem.  The guy at the mill informed us that he'd watched someone dump the puppies off earlier that day.  He had tried to catch both the asshole who did this as well as the puppies and wasn't successful at either.  I could almost hear God laughing at me.  Jamie keeping the puppies was out of the question due to her two dogs - both of them are extremely intolerant of other dogs (they can't even be around each other).  And as you'll recall, I've got three dogs at my house.  So we sat there on Jamie's deck watching the puppies play in the front yard (after giving them water and food) wondering what in the world we were going to do.  I made sure to point out to her that we COULD HAVE BEEN WATCHING HALF NEKKED FIREMEN! 

The puppies were obviously part Chow Chow - so absolutely no way would we take them to the pound (the Chow would make them unadoptable).  Luck happened to walk by in the form of Jamie's new neighbors across the street.  They have three kids & no dog.  Now they have a dog and very happy children.  Which left Jamie and I with one dog too many (well, it's better than two).  It was getting late, so I took the little guy home and put him in the spare kennel for the night.  After a week of looking for a home for him, one of my neighbors agreed to take him for a few days on a trial basis.  A week went by & my neighbor brought him back - just not ready to deal with a puppy.  So, it's been a third week since then and Maks (he had to have a name) is still at my house.  He's decided he lives here & judging from the lack of other homes for him, I guess he's right.  At this point he's part of the family and has even earned himself a nickname: Monkey Maks - he sounds like a monkey when he's playing.  Gabriel is overjoyed at having a playmate and the boys are the bestest of buddies.  Lilly Ann likes playing with him too & really likes that he helps entertain Gabe when she wants a break.  Sarah just doesn't care as long as she gets left alone - kind of sucks to be an old lady with all of these young things running around.  Here are some pictures of Maks - he's the cutest baby!