Dru Blood - I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings: The more I know men, the better I like my dog*

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« Divorce Wars | Main | Gratitude - Version Homoerotic Soldier Songs »

The more I know men, the better I like my dog*

October 30, 2005

What am I doing with all of that "extra time" I have, now that I am once again gloriously single?

I'm working on training my dog. The boxer. Not the beagle. The beagle can go fuck herself. I *puffy heart* my boxer.

In fact, I hadn't even realized how much I had been "working with her" until last night. All I've really been doing is taking her on walks as often as I possibly can, which equates to about 3-4 times a week (because it has been difficult to walk her during the day, as she is INSANE on the leash. But we are, evidently, working on that).

The issues I have with the boxer are manifold:

She likes to steal food off of tables, counters, and out of the hands of small children.
She is INSANE on the leash (as mentioned above)
She is extra-super-aggressive on the leash. If she encounters another dog while she is on a leash, she will foam and growl and, given the opportunity, attack. She does not behave this way off-leash. She's fairly alpha, but she generally doesn't try to kill other dogs offleash, she just asserts her dominance.
She barks. Loudly. When she is playing. And it sounds like a mean, agressive bark. Plus, it's LOUD.

...all of this is compounded, and made more difficult by the fact that she is deaf. So I have to use hand signals with her...which means I also have to train her to look at me. For instructions.

My workaround to the leash aggression/difficulty has been to walk her late at night. I take her across the street to the playground and let her run herself out a bit off leash before our walk, at which point she is generally pretty well-behaved on the leash. She doesn't heel, exactly, but she also doesn't randomly yank me in the direction of anything and everything she deems interesting. This has been working really well for us, except for the loud barking thing. As soon as I let her off of the leash, she barks and barks and barks.

Getting a deaf dog to stop barking is a tricky endeavor. First, it's difficult to discern if she even understands what she is doing wrong when you are telling her to be quiet. Second, she can't fucking hear you tell her to be quiet, anyway. I have been struggling with this dilemma for some time, until last night. Last night, we had a break through.

I'm sorry to say that the breakthrough occurred at the end of the leash. She was playing a game where whe was barking continuously, LOUDLY, and refusing to come to me so I could help her calm down. So, I had to pop her (as gently as possible) with the end of the leash. I don't think it hurt her, but it got her attention, which was something my crouching and patting my knees (which is our usual signal for "come and calm down") wasn't doing. She thought I was playing, and the pop told her, no. I'm not playing. Now shut up and get over here. Of course, I gave her a lot of love when she came to me, and put her back on the leash...and when I took her off again, she still romped playfully, but did not bark...and returned to me at my signal.

The coolest thing of all that happened last night, though, was I was able to take her offleash and have her walk by my side back and forth across the tennis courts. Even after she saw another dog! She stayed with me. And when she broke away, she ran a hundred yards or so towards the other dog, then checked back with me and came back when she saw me motion.

I'm so thrilled about these little breakthroughs. It's so much easier to have a dog who knows how to mind...especially since the beagle is such an untamable pain in the ass. I'm just sorry it has taken me 5 years to find the time to work with Twyla. She's been a totally pleasant dog in the meantime, but now walks with her are actually something to LOOK FORWARD TO rather than something to grit my teeth and tolerate because she's a sweetie who deserves to get out and walk around the neighborhood on occasion.

I wish you all could meet my dog. She's adorable and sweet. She follows me around the house (which is annoying unless I really focus on the fact that she's following me out of love and devotion rather than, you know, a desire to make me trip all over her) she's super sweet to all of the kiddos & while she's not the smartest dog I've ever known, she learns pretty fast, especially taking her handicap into account. Plus, like most boxers, she's fastidious about cleanliness, and never smells all doggy (although I need to start brushing her teeth more regularly, because...GAH...dog BREATH.) PLUS: She doesn't lock herself in her apartment and ignore me for weeks on end OR get into arguments about pants with me. She's my Twyla. My big, goofy-looking, beautiful, sweet puppy dog.

If I had a good picture on this computer, I would put one here. Since I don't, see the montage on the left.

*Ah, how well I remember the sparkly transfer of this, complete with little dog-heads poking out of each and every "o", on a t-shirt my mother used to wear while I was in my formative years. Little did I appreciate the wisdom of these words.

Posted at October 30, 2005 10:14 AM

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Comments

How wonderful and congrats!There is nothing quite like a great bond with a great dog. And I am a firm believer that long walks are a cure-all for dogs, they get out their extra energy and can more easily focus on fun or training. Hell, now that I think about it, walks are a cure-all for everyone!

Posted by: pansy at October 30, 2005 6:33 PM