Rotten Rottie

Kona is your typical Rottweiler in more ways than one, he is gassy (I blame it on no muffler/tail), full of character, smiles, and he is STUBBORN!. Anyone that has owned, petsat, or just had 5 minutes with a Rottie knows what I am talking about.

I have had Kona now since April 10th, 2008, he has come so far with his health, training, manners and trust. With the bond he has also started the "my mommy syndrome"- he is starting to protect me now. Just in the last month he has started not liking anyone that is within least distance of me or Rugby and barks at them.

Now Kona was abused, you can see it in reaction to quick movements, when males come near him, or if you raise your voice or stomp loudly he will drop to the floor and cower. It may be because he now has stability in his life, and someone that does not beat him- that he is becoming protective. SO WHAT TO DO??

This is what I have been doing with my stubborn little man.......

*I am working first and foremost with his obedience, he is learning his commands so if he is put in stressful situation with strangers he will listen and respect what is being asked of him.
*I am NOT letting him get away with, or make excuses for his behavior- he will know its not acceptable.
*I try to distract his attention from the person to me and reward for his attention.
*I reassure him that no one is trying to hurt me through the tone of my voice and my confident posture.
* I am maintaining physical control that he will not escape during the learning
* and most importantly praise him when he gets it right!!!

I will keep you posted on my "meathead" and his progress through his training.

Kona is turning from a rough piece of coal into quite the shining little gem.... how could you not love that face?????

What the dogs think of winter

Out for all of 1 minute for a quick pee, and this is just how impressed Rugby and Kona are of all the snow......

Trees

You may be sick of Winter right about now, just like the rest of us. You bundle up your million layers of socks, pants, snowpants, hat, scarf, coat, etc etc- then grab the dog leash and do the dreaded walk. You almost bail on the neighbors sidewalk (who never salts), then your dog squeals and lifts their foot in pain from the salt (the other neighbor that salts ever last bit of snow off the walk). Your hat blows off from the -30 degree wind, your lips are cracked, your nose is cold, and you can barely see through the snow flakes that are purposely landing in your eyes. Sound familiar??

Well first of all congratulations for being a dedicated ALL WEATHER dog walker, so few people are. I know people that train their dogs to go on pee pee pads just to avoid even having to let dogs out in the snow-Yes these are real people.

Instead of just going for a boring sidewalk walk with you pup, think about walking off the beaten path.My suggestion is to find a wooded lot, or any area with trees, and start dodging them! I take Kona and Rugby on woods walks all the time and have Kona tethered to me and the fun begins. Running through trees is fantastic for stimulating your dog, ensuring they pay attention to your directional changes (big trees are not very forgiving if they decide to run in their own direction), and you get to act like you were 10 and playing jungle ninjas. Okay maybe that last part is me just resisting getting older, but, bottom line I run, crash through trees, and end up laughing.

I challenge you and your dog to try the above, and see if you don't have fun doing it. Your dog will be super stimulated, tired, and grateful for not walking that same Winter walk.

ps, close eyes when branches are eye height- poke your eye once and you will remember this :)