Pups in school!

Between renovations, work and preparing for vacation July has been a very busy month. On the dog front, we were able to fit in obedience classes for Finn and Darla and it's been great. Finn is actually freakin' perfect. He listens so well in class and catches on after only one or two tries. Darla, on the other hand, is a special snowflake. She is almost through her brand new 6-ft lead; we have to get a new one for graduation class next week.

I'm glad that we were able to get ourselves organized and signed up for classes. It's been great bringing the dogs into a dog-filled environment and making them focus on us. They still want to say hi to every single thing that moves in our neighborhood while on a walk, but it's getting a bit easier to refocus them on us and move them along.

We're planning to sign them up for classes again in the fall. I'd like to get Darla into agility classes someday (although my self-discipline is going to have to improve drastically). Finn and his fear of everything high, odd-shaped, enclosed, etc. will probably not ever enjoy agility classes. He's such a baby :)

On the road to recovery :)

Last night we sat down and worked on a plan to refocus on Finn and get him back on track. We know that the teenage rebellion phase is normal in dogs but we also know that if left unchecked any issues can turn into huge problems.

We totally admit that at some point over the summer we got really lax with Finn's training because he was doing so well and we were exhausted from getting him to that point. In all honesty, he was a nightmare when we brought him home a year ago: huge, hyper, strong, untrained, etc. We would come home from walks in tears because it was just so hard to control him or get him to listen or just stop pulling. We could see little improvements here and there but most days we were just so tired and completely demoralized.

And then some time in the middle of June we realized that he would walk beside us more often than not. We realized that we were successfully refocusing his attention when bikers and joggers passed by. We realized that we could call his name across the park and he would respond. He was calmer; we were calmer. Walks were enjoyable. The dog park was fun. We had finally emerged from the bad place.

We relaxed. Maybe too much.

We haven't worked on anything new with him for months, just coasting by on what we were able to accomplish to make him manageable. But it's not enough anymore. For his mental stimulation, I've started to teach him to "find" something. I hide a carrot under a bowl and he has to point to the right bowl (out of three choices). He was so confused the first time we played, but it was so awesome watching it click for the first time. Confused as all hell again today though...

We've also started walking the boys separately whenever possible so that we can give Finn all our attention during his walk. We only started walking them together in mid-November because it was just impossible previously. Separate walks take more time but it really gives us quality one-on-one time with each dog.

On a lighter note, here is our other type of quality time :P

Teenagers...*sigh*

Although, at almost two-years-old Finn should be past the rebellious teenager stage, right? He's gotten so difficult lately, exhibiting all these dodgy behaviours that we hope are not permanent.

This morning he growled and snapped at a dog that he's known for almost a year and the two of them have always had positive interactions in the past. The dog is a German Shepherd and is an intact male, both of which are things that seem to be new triggers for Finn. He did have a nice romp with a seven-year-old GSD female named Bella later in the day, so it really might just be the "intact male" part that is an issue.

We've also had to put him the in "penalty box" at the dog park quite a few times recently. He loves it there and he's great friends with most of the owners and the dogs but he's been misbehaving a lot and we're really not okay with some of the things he's been doing. The "penalty box" does seem to work well for most of his indiscretions but there have been a few times that we have just taken him home early. We really want him to behave well at the dog park because he gets such good exercise and socialization there.

There are a lot of dogs around Finn's age at the park so almost everyone had stories to contribute about the bad things their dogs have done. While it's nice to know that we're not alone and that everyone still thinks of Finn as a friendly, gentle dog, we have to watch him so carefully because he is just so big. He can make the same mistake as a smaller dog but his mistake will likely have greater consequences.

We are lucky that we live close to this awesome park with lots of amazing calm, friendly and forgiving dog owners. We've seen dogs pee on people, knock people over, get into tussles with each other, nip, wrestle and pin each other, and yes, grab at clothing or hands with their mouths. For the most part, everyone tries to help each other out with advice, separating dogs, reinforcing boundaries and rules, watching one dog if the owner has to attend to another dog, and just generally being great company. And all our dogs have good and bad days, and people are really good about calling it a day if their dog is acting out.

I am hopeful that Finn is just going through his adolescent phase a little late due to all the upheaval he experienced in his early life and that soon he will go back to being the super friendly, gentle giant that he's known as. I feel that we keep a close eye on his behaviour and are able to spot when he's about to get testy, and I know that we have a pretty good handle on his triggers. We just have to be patient and firm with him and put in a few extra hours of training.

They calm down around three years old, right...?

Sigh...

We need to remember to have the kitchen doors closed at all times...Finn ate half a container of honey...

Starting 2012 off right!

We recently discovered that Finn had learned how to open the cabinet where his food is kept and has been eating right out of the bag whenever he pleases. Now we know why his once-lovely waist has bulked up despite our attempts to adjust his meals and treats.

So, Finn's 2012 is starting off with a lot of exercise to get him back into shape! Andrew took him on a 1.5 hour bike ride this morning with a stop at the dog park. We're going to try to fit in a run each day (in addition to his regular walks/dog park visits), and go back to using vegetables and fruits as treats when working on training inside the house.

Nomming on a watermelon last summer