Annie Goes for a Long Walk!

How long has it been since I spotlighted Annie?  It's called Mydivapets emphasize pets.  I need to get Annie in a lot more of these posts!  Annie had so much fun today with all the other Aussies.  Diva couldn't go due to the fact that I sprained my ankle a week ago and a four mile walk wouldn't help much.  Annie was  a little sad at first when her buddy couldn't come with her, but when she go there she saw so many nice Aussies!  One nice lady even smelled like she had cookies so she went over and licked her hoping for some loving back; pretty traitorous of her, huh?  In the picture all the pups are trying to get treats that a wonderfully,nice lady scattered about to test their nose skills.  20 people came to this Aussie walk; lots of friends for Annie.  However, when Annie got home she was pooped; she didn't even get up to go lick the spoon!  I had to bring all the num nums to her.  Now that Annie is home her legs are tired from all the play and has a slight limp; the poor girl!  Annie was dreaming of a nice small walk like very other we do, but still she had loads of fun, just maybe a bit much for her.  She's a little wimpy; sometimes she can't walk in snow she'll hop while switching which leg will have to go down for the first minute.  At the trail Annie even got to go off leash; she kept on veering off the trail gaining the leash back.  She got twice the four miles that was originally planned!  Well letting her off the leash was worth a try; she had a lot of fun!  There were Aussies of all kinds there: minis, red, black, and blue!  Plus, just to make it better, there were treats everywhere!  Annie wishes she could do this all the time! Very surprised that Annie didn't even get scared at the dogs that were bigger then her; Annie has this problem when she's near dogs that are bigger then her, even if their the sweetest, goofiest things ever!  You see  Annie will go on a barking fit and starts looking like a rooster when she raises her shackles.  Annie even found an Aussie that lives about two roads away from us!  Maybe she can get a playmate!  Annie's walk today was at the Maxwell Falls trail; this trail is near Evergreen, Colorado.  It's called Maxwell Falls, because along the trail is an adorable little water fall.  Today there was snow on the ground during the walk and made the dogs feet occasionally cold.  I can hear Annie pleading to go again in a few weeks, maybe even a different walk!  We'll have to see it's rather busy around where we live...  Hopefully I'm fully healed by our next luxurious walk, because Diva won't be letting anyone out the door without her!  Annie could have easily of had the funnest day of her life; nice weather, long walk, how much better can it get?

Dog Trick of the Day

1/ 19/ 13

Cleaning Up Puppy Urine Off the Carpet:

1. Blot up as much as possible with paper towels.

2. Pour a eight- ounce glass of water on it to dilute the urine.

3. Blot with more paper towels until there is no hint of yellow on the towels.

4. Spray carpet cleaner over it and scrub with a brush.

5. Spray it again and follow the products for waiting time and if you need to vaccume.(repeat if needed.)

6. Spray with an enzyme inhibitor, which makes it smell better, following product instructions.

7. Now you know how to defeat your puppies mess!

How to Improve Dog Eagerness

Do you face the problem of a dog who just doesn't want to play?  Well there are different strategies into getting them more enthusiastic.

For the Dog Who Plays all but When You Want to

This is the category my dog best fits; Diva loves to play, but only when she wants to.  Her toys are scattered around the house from her various play sessions and whenever I wanted to play a nice game of fetch with her, she was uninterested.  To fix this problem, I gathered all her toys and put them in a closed room, so when I wanted to play, she would be thrilled.


For the Dog Who Just Won't Play

This is the category that Annie fits best in (I have a bunch of misfits!).  This is the dog that would rather sit on the couch all day.  To get them intrigued into playing I used an old sock and stuffed it with some gross stuff and mushed it together, inside the sock.  I then tried to get Annie to tug on it.  Since your dog probably can't tug then you will start by clicking an treating them whenever they look at it.  Once they become increasingly better at this change it to where they get a treat when they touch it with their nose.  Keep on doing this until your dog does it repeatedly.  Now treat them when they bite it.  Repeat.  Next, try to get them to hold on and start tugging.  Repeat. Then when they start repeating this action over and over say Tug right after they hold on to your sock.  Repeat.  Now they will tug with you, but you want to just throw the toy and they chase after it.  What do you do.  You would use your sock filled with monstrosities and throw it, they will likely start wanting the treats inside and try to tare the sock to get in.  Since they went for the toy you will now click and treat them.  Repeat this step.  Now their only missing one key ingredient for a good fetching dog: they need to return the toy.  Now you're going to tell your dog Come after fetching the toy.  If your dog doesn't know Come it is on the blog.  Repeat until your dog doesn't need you to say Come, it's just habitual.

I hope this helped if your dog wouldn't play with you!

Just One More Blog

Diva says "Start reading!"

Hey, I have another blog!  No it has nothing to do with pets...  It does have something to do with writing though!  I have even included pets in some of my stories and ideas.  Why not check it out at http://mostlyfantasybookwriter.blogspot.com/  .  Long name, good blog.  Read excerpts from my newest story, The First Wizard!  Enter a contest for the full story free!  What you have to do?  Go to my blog to find out.  See you there.

Dog Trick of the Day

1/ 7/ 13

Throw this in the Trash:

1. Work with your dog and have him/ her retrieve lots of different kinds of trash items, and have him/ her bring them over increasingly longer distances.

2. Sit on a chair with the trash bucket between your feet.  Tell your dog to pick up an item using the Take It cue, and call him/her to you; click and treat him/her when she's as close to the opening of the bucket as she'll come.

3. Repeat the step above, but delaying the click until she gets closer to the bucket.  Repeat until she's right above the bucket.

4. With your dog standing close to the bucket, tell him/ her to Leave It and click and treat him/ her for releasing the trash.   You will need to practice this so that the dog will eventually release the item right into the trash bucket.

5. Experiment by withholding the click until your dog makes a deliberate effort to drop the item into the barrel.

6. Label this action Throw It Away by saying it right after your dog does the behavior.  You will have to practice this many times before the new cue initiates the behavior.

7. Practice with different items until your dog will retrieve and discard just about anything you ask him/ her to.

8. Congrats, you taught your dog throw it away.