Howie is pretty much house trained. I think he had an accident yesterday, but I take responsibility for it because I was busy with several things and missed the time when I would have normally taken him out, and I found the wet spot on the rug right inside the door where he normally goes out. I don't think I'm fooling myself. Nuh-uh, I am not! Shhh! Just listen! He's a good dog.
Yesterday, Pete commanded Howie to go in his crate, just to see if she could, and he went in, and she gave him a treat. Then he decided to stay and play in there for a little bit. And when we got home from a little outing later, Husbandguy went to let him out, and he was in his crate, which we leave open in the bathroom with him when we shut him up. And I think he slept there last night because that's where he was when I let him out this morning. Yay! Still, though, we're not going to shut him in his crate unless we absolutely have to, like if we're travelling or something. We'll practice with the door closed, but the gate on the bathroom is sufficient to protect the house from chewing puppy teeth when we can't be with him. For now...
He does okay on his leash now. He needs to go for walks because we don't have a good backyard for a puppy to run around in and he gets bored and nippy sometimes and clearly needs exercise. Plus, I firmly believe that dogs should be walked even if they have a backyard they can play in*. He doesn't seem to enjoy our walks yet, though. My friend suggested that I have Pete run ahead with treats to give him when he does well, but we haven't figured out how to give him the treat without stopping, which we're trying to avoid. Pete running ahead seems to work on its own sometimes, though, so we just make lots of happy, good-dog noises when he does well and keep going.
I think I might try starting to teach him to sit this weekend. Maybe that will help with the Lulu issue...
*I asked HG if he would build Howie a fence if I cleared out the woods and made our backyard usable, thinking he would say yes because there's no way I can do it myself, but he said no because he's afraid I'd actually try to do it and fall down the hill and hurt myself (I wouldn't, by the way - I only did that once and I only got hurt because the lawn mower fell on me - it was turned off).
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2 comments:
It would seem that you are supposed to teach them to auto-sit when you stop walking. Me, I couldn't teach my dog to do ANYTHING, so I cannot give advice. To me, it sounds like you are doing good! I think Lily will have to basically pin him to show she is Alpha. But maybe you can do that for her.
Progress!
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