Puppy Training or Training Us?

 

Daisy Dog has now attended day two of puppy training! She has completed lesson two of six lessons at Petsmart, and we are coming along wonderfully.

One of us though is learning more than she ever thought she would...me!

I was pretty skeptical when my husband decided to sign us up for this, but I've learned a lot.  Luckily for Daisy, she has too!

She's still learning her name, but the cat chasing and the shoe fetish is disappearing so we're good here.

Lesson two was mostly about walking Daisy on a leash which was really needed.  Her method was either to sit and refuse to budge or the "get the hell out of my way, I'm coming" dash through the store, so we were glad to get some tips.  She was doing better by the end of the lesson! 

Our homework for this week is to practice the walking bit each day increasing the amount each day.  So the first couple of days we're supposed to practice walking down to our neighbor's mailbox without any problems and then each day a little further.

On another front, the dog crate we invested in is proving to be the best $20.00 we have spent in a long time.  We are now able to sleep at least 7 hours without waking up to any messes in the house.

She's also becoming a bit cheesy...look at that pose!  Here she is on the porch with her tongue hanging out cause it was 98 degrees!  We had been practicing her sitting commands, but she got lazy.

I can't say that I blame her....it's hot here in Texas!  

Happiness is a Dog Crate!

Puppies can be so cute and cuddly, but not so much at 4:30 in the morning when you're trying to sleep.  I's also not cute to wake up to a mess every morning.

So now Daisy, our rescue puppy, is doing the crate thing!

We had heard many people talk about crates and what a help it was in potty training a puppy!  Well, we thought that as intelligent people, we could handle this the old-fashioned way.  We were wrong.

Daisy was doing fine during the day, and we seemed to be doing a good job wearing her out each evening so that she would sleep throughout the night. 

This worked fine the first couple of nights, but then we started waking up to find messes and overturned trash cans.  So doggy-prison it is.

We went straight to Craigslist because the cost of a brand-new one started at about $100 for a very basic one.  It took a couple of days, but we finally got this one for $20.00 from a college student who was off to another college.

It was almost brand-new and had two entrances and a sturdy tray for the bottom.  We draped towels on the top and sides to help keep the light out and give the illusion of a cave.  We also put in a comfy soft blankets.

We prepared ourselves for the worse....barking, whinning, scratching.  Nothing!

She loves her little cage.  I put treats in the "Daisy Cave" at night, and she goes right in to eat them and then lays down and goes to sleep.

Hallelujah!

So I highly recommend a dog crate now to everyone with a puppy!

Where Are the Made in America labels?

Imagine my surprise when I went to my local grocery store and tried to buy a new doggie toy for Daisy our rescue puppy, the newest addition to our household, and came home without one.

Made in China labels were everywhere. 

I know some people think that a dog or a cat are just that...animals. But they are to me, and many people, family members. They are loved ones. They are our babies. And I for one, am not taking any chances with them. Just look at that face, would you?

That being said, I think Daisy deserves the best, but getting the best is proving a hard thing to get. All the toys said: Made in China. And I mean, all the doggie toys! I could not find one doggie toy that wasn't made in China.

Even most of the doggie treats are made in China. Now I am not totally against all things made in China, but there have been many reports of dogs that have died and gotten sick from pet treats made in China. So I was pleased to read an article about how Petsmart and the other major pet retailer are committed to stop selling Made in China pet treats.

By March of 2015, it will be a lot easier to find Made in America or Made Anywhere Else, but China labels.  Yippee for all pets out there!

Poor Daisy did not get a new toy today, but she did get some wonderful chicken-flavored chew rawhides made in Columbia.

Daisy Does School!

 

Daisy had her first day at puppy training. She was wonderful!

We adopted Daisy through San Antonio Pets Alive when they were hosted by Petsmart. A couple of times a month they set up shop in the aisles of Petsmart to find new homes for dogs and cats that have been saved from certain death at kill-shelters.

In exchange for adopting a dog or cat at one of these events, Petsmart gives you a coupon book worth over $200.00 in savings on supplies and food at Petsmart. Included was a $20.00 coupon for their 6 week Training Course.

Since adopting Daisy, she has only been about ninety percent accident free, and we've discovered she has a shoe fetish.  A training course?  Let's try it, we thought.  What could it hurt?

Daisy attended lesson one a couple of days ago. They presented us with a free bag of training treats and a clicker. We learned about using a clicker to reinforce good behavior.

Daisy seemed to understand the general concepts.  Now we have to keep practicing and reinforce what we learned in the class at home.  Apparently consistency is the trick to training.  We even left the class with homework for Daisy to work on until our next training class.

Will this help us over-come her shoe fetish? 
We'll have to wait and see! 
Wish us luck!