Misbehaving

I read with great interest the story that appeared in yesterday’s New York Times regarding the Governor of New York’s dog.  Apparently, this little maltese, Cheerio, has bitten several visitors to the Governor’s mansion.  A word to the wise my little friend, “do not bite guests to your home, especially if it is a mansion.”

As you know, I am a barker.  I bark when people come to the door, whenever the doorbell rings and when dogs walk by our house.  I can tell that this behavior is very annoying, especially to My G and Lil Joe.  However, I draw the line at biting people.  This just cannot be tolerated.  Cheerio should know that some dogs get sent to the doggie farm when they bite people and they don’t come back.  Luckily for Cheerio, his family is going to bring in a dog trainer.  Hopefully he will learn to behave better.

It’s just hard to believe that this  dog got a huge article in the New York Times for misbehaving.  Too bad that there aren’t more stories about the sweet  and kind dogs and all the good that they do.  I know, I know, those kind of stories just don’t make the news.  I just hope that Bo, President Obama’s dog, sees this as a warning.  Any dog that is in the public spotlight because of their human, can easily find themselves top story in any supermarket tabloid – even the New York Times.

I Can’t Believe I Ate The Whole Thing

I am a dog.  The main thing that a dog thinks about is eating.  We like eating dog food, cat food, and people food.  Really we like any kind of food.  I spend a lot of time sleeping and I think that I even dream about food.  When I go on walks I am  happiest when I find food.  I think that by now you realize that I LIKE FOOD!!!

Imagine my joy when the family finally fixed the pantry door that was broken.  They had been using a rubber band to hold it close and it was difficult for me to get in there.  Now the door is fixed and I am having the time of my life – sort of.  I just have to nudge the door with my nose and – Wha-la – I can reach the bottom shelves of food.  A few weeks ago, when they forgot to secure the door with the rubber band, I made this discovery.  I ate a box of Froot Loops.

This past weekend I hit the jackpot.  The family went out to dinner.  While they were gone, I carefully opened that pantry door and I managed to get a box of Crispix, a box of Fiber One Toaster Pastries (think healthy pop tarts) and some rice cakes.  Why do people even waste their time eating rice cakes?  If I had wanted card board I could just eat the recycled newspapers.  The Crispix were quite crunchy.  The best part of the whole evening were those toaster pastries – I ate the whole box – YUM.  Unfortunately while they were delicious going down – the same could not be said for how they got out of my body.  Enough said!

So of course Hallie cleaned up the mess that I had made eating all of that food in the TV room.  And she also re-arranged things in the pantry.  She’s a smart one that Hallie.  Now all of the bottom shelves are filled with canned goods and all of the yummy food are pushed towards the back of the pantry.  I’ll keep trying to get in there because I just know that Lil Joe or My G will slip up and then I’ll be in heaven again eating  all that “Food Glorious Food.”

One More Bark Obama Entry

So by now we all know about presdent-elect Bark Obama’s promise to get his girls a dog after the election.  Despite a ridiculous amount of pressure from the American Kennel Club to get a purebred dog, Bark has not succumbed as of yet.  Instead he has shared with the world that we will have to wait until the Spring for the Obamas to actually get their dog.  They figure if they are going to get a puppy, it will be easier to train the dog during warmer weather.  This makes sense to me, though I’m not exactly sure where these girls will walk that dog.  It’s not like Sasha and Malia can just go gallavanting up and down  Pennsylvania Avenue with their dog.  I also think that the Obamas will have to deal with so much change in their lives – new house, new school, new friends, new government, etc. that they may as well wait until they are more settled in their new digs.  I am content to sit and wait for them to make their best decision.  This is one cool family and they are very practical.  I know they will go the rescue route!

Dogs For Peace

Hallie has been leaving the radio on a lot these past few weeks. I prefer to listen to NPR. Of course it’s not like I have a lot of choice as to what I listen to since I can’t reach the radio. It’s hard to believe that a few weeks ago it was the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War. My whole life has been lived in a state of war. It’s also hard to believe that 4,000 American soldiers have died in this senseless war, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians that have also perished.

So dogs don’t really use their “words” when they talk. Instead we growl, bark, push and sometimes even bite humans to let them know what we want. I’m the first to admit that this is not the best form of communication. One would think that humans would know better that violence does not really solve world issues. Instead collaboration, mediation and just plain old talking would probably work better. If a dog can understand this, why can’t the humans and stop this increasingly tragic War?

When Hallie and I took that dog training class everything was about positive reinforcement. I know that in the olden days, before my time, the way that dogs were trained was by force, yelling and intimidation. The trainers found that either method of training worked, but the positive reinforcement, with lots of treats, was more humane for both the dogs and the humans. Isn’t there a lesson for our world leaders to learn from this?

Oh, the Games Dogs Play

The family is not the only ones that play games. I do my share of game-playing too. Here’s my favorite game. Whenever the family sits down to dinner, which they conveniently do just about every night, I beg and beg and beg at the dinner table. Sometimes I jump up and put my paws on the table. The family always say – “Down Miles, No Miles, Miles you are driving us crazy.” They never give me any food from the table, but you can’t blame a dog for trying.

Now, whenever the family has company over for dinner, I’m not the same dog. Usually I greet their guests, never with barking, but with my cute little puggle face. They bend down and pet me and basically fall in love with me. Who wouldn’t? When the family and their guests sit down to dinner, do I beg and put my paws on the table? No way, I go to my “spot,” and rest quietly while they eat. Of course, this makes the guests say – “What a cute dog – what a good dog – can I take him home?”

Would I dare go to my “spot” when the family was eating? You’ve got to be joking. This is my favorite game because it makes the family proud of me, but they still put up with my begging when it is just the five of us. This could go on forever!

A Word From Miles

So, Hallie is away from her computer and I decided to share some of my thoughts as to what’s going on around here.  Don’t get me wrong, I am totally blessed to be part of this crazy family, so I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but there sure are some strange things that go on.  For instance, Hallie and that man she hangs out with always put me in the crate at night.  It’s not the most comfortable place to be.  If it was, they would sleep in one and not on that comfy looking bed.  So they put me in there and I whine a little – OK, maybe I whine alot.  But did they honestly think that by moving the crate from room to room things would get better?  They didn’t, I actually had to howl quite a bit.  Now, I’m sleeping at the end of their bed and I think that we all are really sleeping alot better.

And what’s with that clicking noise?  It’s like they think that if I hear that noise I will do whatever they want.  Well that is exactly what happens, mostly because they always give me treats right after the click.  Meanwhile, can’t the four of them figure out that I know how to sit and stay?  Duh?  But if it means more treats for me, I’ll do whatever they want.  For the record – I like the hot dog treats better than the cheese.

Finally, why do they expect me to be so friendly with that cat.  Don’t they know anything about the animal hierarchy?  Cats and dog are generally enemies.  Believe me I may bark at that cat, but she is always hissing at me.  It’s not very welcoming at all.  Plus she is free to roam around the house all day and I’m stuck in that crate.

I must admit that being here is alot better than the shelter.  There is always some one to pet me and pay attention to me here.  That wasn’t always the case at the shelter.  So, when they say he’s a lucky dog, I know that they are talking about me.

Obedience School Drop-Out #3

OK, so I have committed to myself that I will try to write a post at least once a week. It always seems that after our Obedience Class I have oodles to write.

Today when I picked up my DYS from school – he did everything he could to convince me that we shouldn’t go to the Obedience Class this evening. He was very persuasive and had almost won me over. Until… the teacher called me at home.

Earlier in the day I had faxed the teachers my “mid-term” exam. I had to share what I thought Miles did well, what he needed help with, what I did well, what I needed help with, what else I wanted to learn and how did I like the class. Well, basically Miles has learned to “sit” and “stay.” I have learned to use the clicker. I shared with the teachers that I found the class to be very stressful because Miles was so nervous and jittery around other dogs and I was so worried about Miles that I couldn’t concentrate on what the teacher was saying. So I faxed my exam twice this morning, but it didn’t go through (or so I thought).

But the faxes did go through, the teacher read my test and he called me at home. He made the suggestion that I should leave Miles and my DYS home and just come to class by myself and I did. It was a great idea. I was more relaxed, I could take notes and I realized that all of the other dogs were just dogs – some better behaved than others., some better trained than others – especially that German Shepard. It was a much better way to take the class. I feel energized to work with Miles this week on some of the things we went over.

So maybe the best way to take a Dog Obedience Class is without the dog!

Obedience School Drop-Out #2

This week, thanks to a business trip, I was unable to attend our dog obedience class. Tuesday (the day of the class) ended up being a completely stress-free day because I was not worrying about having to go to the dog class that night. I didn’t have to spend an hour with 20 other dogs and Miles. I spent all day Wednesday thinking, I’m going to just stop going to that class. It’s a big mistake — maybe I should have just hired a personal dog trainer that could help Miles with his particular issues. In my mind, I was an official drop out of that class.

But alas, this is not to be. Today, we received a nice letter from the teachers of the class -they missed us and hoped that Miles was OK – maybe they remembered his little barking problem from the last class? How can I not go to this week’s class? They even sent me the activities that Miles and me should be working on. I know me, I’ll be at the class – but I’m sure Tuesday will be very nerve-wracking for me.

Obedience School Drop Out

Two nights ago my DYS (darling younger son), Miles and I attended our fourth session of a Dog Training class. I had hoped to write about this experience sooner because it has been really interesting, but last night’s class was so demoralizing, that this post may not be so positive – more of a rant!

The class is based on positive reinforcement and behavorism. We use these “clickers”( a very popular dog training tool) and when the dog does the appropriate behavior, we click and reward. So, Miles really seems to be able to do “sit” and “stay.”

While the teacher was lecturing us and Miles, who is not so comfortable around other dogs, was barking at the German Shepard sitting next to us. Finally, the teacher looks over at us and says “Can you make that dog stop barking, give him food, distract him, turn him around, do something!” This is the same man, who during the second session said, “You should be paying attention to me, ignore your dog.” Go know.

Well, it is totally embarrassing to be singled out that way in front of so many strangers and dogs. I’m pretty sure that my DYS will not be joining me again at this class and frankly, I’m not so sure if I want to go again.