Well, the chamomile worked! Kitty woke up today (yesterday to you day people) acting like her peppy self again!
I tried a little training session with her twice today. Once before I left for work and again when I got home. She won’t come near me when I have the clicker in my hand. So, I have to toss the treat to her after I’ve clicked. The trainer said that was okay.
One question I am embarrassed to ask, though, is: what if you call your dog by more than one name? Believe it or not, I actually have a “pet” name for her. (No pun intended)
And I believe, I call her more by her pet name than I do by her real name. Plus, my mother, who takes care of her while I am at work, has a different pet name for her. Is it no wonder that my poor dog doesn’t respond to her name?
I am beginning to realize that you really do have to be a very disciplined person yourself in order to discipline your dog. I am finding that procrastination is not key in successful training.
During this last training session, the trainer informed us that 1) we should not purchase toys for our dogs if those toys resemble anything that we do not want our dogs to play with, and 2) we are only supposed to allow our dogs to play with one or two toys at a time. When they get bored with those two, then we are supposed to take them away and give them another one (or two). The rationale behind this is that if we allow our dogs to play with their toys whenever they want, or with as many as they want, then it is difficult for them to differentiate between their things and ours.
At first, my argument to this was that Kitty is not destructive. So, why should I worry what she plays with? But then I realized that although she is not destructive, she DOES tend to play with things that she shouldn’t play with… if she happens to find them or get a hold of them. One prime example would be socks. She LOVES my socks. Another example is the tissue paper in the bathroom trash can.
Kitty has many toys. Most of them are little stuffed animal squeaky toys. It is just now occurring to me that socks are small, soft, and fuzzy, similar to her little stuffed animals. It’s no wonder she loves my socks!
I guess it is time for me to hide all her toys and begin that part of her training. I just need to find a place to put them all… I will definitely do that tomorrow...
LOL, we often call Cosmo "Cozzy" and he responds to both the same but I sometimes wonder if he cares - does he realize Cozzy is his nickname or does he think he has two names? :p Dogs are smart, though, so it probably isn't as confusing to them as we would think!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Bella has a serious addiction to toilet paper or any paper-substance she finds in the trashcan. She knows she is not allowed to have it - I can always tell when she has gotten into the trash because she walks over to me with her head hanging low and acting depressed. I get so upset when I find she's gotten in the trash and there is Kleenex or whatever all over the floor, but she continues to do it if we aren't careful about keeping the trashcan out of her reach. I told Joe we need to take her to trashaholics anonymous. :p I don't know where she got the idea to do this - none of her toys resemble paper and she didn't do this as a puppy. Sometimes I think if dogs really, really like something there is no stopping them - just the same as an alcoholic person with alcohol!