"greetings"

I was out for about 5 hours tonight. When I got home I stopped in the laundry room and took off my coat and my shoes in anticipation of Harley "greeting" me. He was so excited to see me. He jumped all over me, mouthed me and general just went nuts. I started right away asking him to sit. He tried but was so excited that he could barely contain himself. I asked David to get a treat so I could calm Harley down with some sits and downs. David said that Harley had behaved all night. I don't know why it is that he goes after me the way he does. I know he's treating me as an equal or subordinate instead of a leader. I'm hoping that continuing on the program Dr. Jamtgaard has given us will make a difference. I'm also hoping that the Prozac will be effective too. Harley is in his kennel for the night. He never fusses about going to bed and he's so calm when he wakes up in the morning. It really makes me wonder why he has times like he does when he basically loses it. I've got to get the Gentle Leader fitted on him so I can take him out for a walk. The only leashes I have right now are the chain ones so I'll use one of those to take him out. I wish I could take him up on the Mesa but I don't think he's ready for that yet. We'll probably just walk around the cul de sac. That way if he acts up I can get him home quickly. I'm hoping that the Gentle Leader and the chain leash will help him to walk better. I've got to get him out there no matter what though. I need to get him into a routine so that he can count on things each day. It would be good for me too.

Well, it's late and I need to go to bed. Harley will probably be up at his usual time of 7:00 - 7:30 a.m. Then of course we'll take a nap later in the morning. Okay, beddie bye time. Goodnight all.

Harley has been evaluated

It's Friday already. Where did this week go? We had the evaluation by Dr. Jamtgaard done on Sunday. She was here for about 2 hours. She said that Harley has separation anxiety and impulse control issues (nothing I didn't already know but it was nice to have it confirmed). She worked with Harley most of the time that she was here just having him settle down. He did settle quite well while Dr. Jamtgaard was here. He settles down for me too but then he gets this burst of energy and starts attacking me, not in a vicious way, but it hurts nonetheless. Anyway, here's what we're doing at this point to modify Harley's behavior:

no more tethering
sit-stay program (we practice this multiple times/day)
orienting and attention training (we practice multiple times/day)
varying my leaving the house routine to lessen the separation anxiety
ordered toys that he's less likely to destroy (Tug-a-Jug, Buster Cube, Kongs)
ordered chew sticks for him (compressed rawhide)
he has been started on Prozac (30mg)
bought him a Gentle Leader
bought him new leashes (2 chain ones that he can't bite through)
now that I have the Gentle Leader and chain leash I can start walking him again
staying in touch with Dr. Jamtgaard
trying to record his behaviors (biting, jumping, chasing his tail)
ordered a D.A.P. diffuser (dog appeasing pheromones)

It seems like a lot but it's not really. It's slow going though. Since he's not tethered he's been jumping up on me and biting me every day, multiple times/day. I try to turn my back to him but that just makes him pissed off and he attacks my back. I try walking away from him but he follows me and continues to jump on me and bite me. If I can safely get to the bathroom, I'll go in and close the door for a short time but as soon as I come out he's jumping on me again. At Dr. Jamtgaard's suggestion I'm trying to get Harley to sit when he starts acting like that. Having him sit will hopefully deescalate his behavior.

I did get in touch with Janice to let her know that we won't be working with her at this time so that Harley can adjust to being on the Prozac. She was very gracious about my change of plans.

I think that once I can get him out there on long walks his behavior will improve. A tired dog is a good dog. I'm also looking forward to seeing what effect the Prozac and the DAP diffuser has on Harley. He definitely needs to settle down, especially when I'm leaving the house. An interesting thing that I noticed is that he always seems to go after me once we finish a behavior modification session. I'm not sure why that is. I'm also trying to figure out what triggers him to bite me in the first place but haven't seen any obvious patterns yet. I'm sure they're there but I'm just not seeing them. I'm just glad that I got him on the Prozac. I'm praying that it will help him not be so anxious.

It still bothers me that Harley goes after me but not others. Again, he's not being vicious but he still bruises and cuts me. At the time he's doing it he's just so persistent and it's difficult to get him to stop. I'm going to work with him though and hopefully that persistence of his will transfer over to the behavior modification. I'm hopeful.

Here's a link to Dr. Jamtgaard's website (Animal Behavior Insights).

I'd given up

I guess I need to add that in the last few months I've basically given up on Harley. I haven't bothered training him or walking him. Mostly I've just been in survival mode. I just try to get through the day without him chomping on me. He exerts so much pressure on my arms that it feels like he's going to break a bone. Thankfully he doesn't break the skin very often but the bruises I have are ridiculous. I have them on my feet, legs, stomach, chest, arms and hands. Pretty much anywhere he can sink his teeth in. But that's still no excuse for me giving up on him. I felt like my whole life revolved around Harley and that it still does. I want him to be a part of my life, not my whole life. I want to go to school this summer and that won't happen if Harley's behavior doesn't change. I need to make changes to me too. I can't let him run our lives. He does right now though.

After Dr. J does her evaluation and comes up with a diagnosis and plan of attack, I'll have phone and email access to her for 3 months. I'm hoping that will be long enough to make a difference. I can also Skype with her so she can actually see Harley. There is a follow-up consultation if need be but I'm hoping that there won't be a need for it. The worst that could happen is that she tells us that we are stuck with Harley the way that he is. I don't think she'll do that but I am nervous that she will tell us that.

At this point I feel trapped by having Harley. I don't feel trapped by him. He's still adorable and cute when he's not misbehaving but this situation makes me feels like I'm suffocating. I wanted Harley to be my hiking buddy but that hasn't happened yet. Now i don't go for walks because I'd have to leave him alone and he doesn't like being without me. I don't want him barking and howling and disturbing the neighborhood. I don't take a shower until I have to so I don't have to put him in his kennel and listen to him whine. I can't relax taking a shower because of his whining. When I go out I have to limit myself to about 3 hours. I'm afraid he'll get destructive if I leave him longer (tearing up his bed, trying to get out of the kennel). This is the 3rd bed we are on because he chewed up the other 3. I sleep more because he's in his kennel when I'm sleeping. He's not allowed up on the bed but when he has got up there he goes right to attacking my head, pulling my hair out and nipping at my ears and face. He's over 60 pounds now and can inflict a lot of damage.

And now it's 4:30am and he's still settled in his kennel sleeping. That's one thing that I love about Harley - he's always slept through the night, since he was 8 weeks old. Sometimes I get up in the morning and he stays in his kennel until he's ready to come out. He doesn't run to the door to go do his business either. He usually plays for a bit and then goes out. I guess I should come up with a list of things I love about Harley to balance this all out.

• I love that Harley sleeps through the night
• I love that Harley is a slow riser
• I love that he is so cute
• I love when he smiles at me
• I love that he is exuberant
• I love that he loves to play

The list isn't very long but it's also 4:30am in the morning and I'm not thinking too straight right now. I guess I should head back to bed. More to follow when I'm up at a decent hour.

Behavior problems with Harley

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged about Harley! Mostly I haven't blogged because things have not been going well. Harley seems to have some behavior issues that we are getting professional help for. Today, a doctor from CSU-Fort Collins is coming to the house to evaluate Harley. We are also have been working with a CPDT. It's costing a lot of money to do this but it's that or get Harley put down or re-homed. It really is that bad. I still love Harley and consider him to be my buddy, my companion but it's not enjoyable having him in the house at all. I have to tether him to the couch like I used to do with Moped and Skooter so he won't jump up on me and bite me. His biting was getting so bad that I ended up bruised and cut on my arms and feet. I took him to doggy day care for a little vacation. I dropped him off on a Monday and picked him up on a Thursday. He had to stay in a pen by himself the whole time he was there because he plays too rough with all the other dogs. He does not heed their warning to stop, no matter what the size of the dog is. It all makes me very sad. I wonder how much of this is my fault and how much of it is Harley's bad behavior. I guess it doesn't really matter at this point. We can only start from here and keeping moving forward. Harley and I still know what we are doing and I know that we can get through this together.

I contemplated re-homing Harley but I couldn't do that in good conscience because he's so badly behaved. I even considered euthanasia. I wouldn't do that but it did go through my mind when things were at their worst. This isn't just puppy problems. It's definitely more severe than that. He is 9 months old now and we've had him for 7 months and things are just getting worse. I don't have any friends over because of Harley and I don't bring Harley anywhere because he doesn't know how to behave (jumps up on people, plays too rough with dogs). I can't even walk him anymore because he chews through his leash and chews on my shoes so I can't walk safely.

We've had Harley in basic obedience classes since he was 11 weeks old. He knows sit, down, high five, roll over and up. He's smart enough to get those things. It's the behavior he can't help. It's like having an ADHD dog. I've got to be very serious about this and turn things around or I don't know what will happen.

Here are the issues I deal with:

• he bites me when I try to leave if he's off his tether or out of his kennel
• he bites me when he wants my attention
• he's a destructive/aggressive chewer; he destroys all of his toys
• he follows me from room to room
• he whines and howls when I leave him or he just waits for me to come back
• if he notices that I'm doing anything to signal that I'm going out he goes after me (taking a shower, pulling up my socks, getting dressed, getting my shoes, going toward the door)
• he chases his tail and bites it
• he plays too rough with all other dogs and with me; he does not heed a warning to stop (doesn't respond to yelping, growling, snapping, etc.)
• at doggy day care he has to be in a pen by himself, he can't interact with other dogs
• it's very difficult to get him to stay or wait
• he has no bite inhibition or impulse control
• he chews on his leash and on my shoes when we try to go for a walk
• he bolts out the door
• he plays keep away with whatever he has in his mouth, won't "drop it"
• I've adjusted my schedule because of Harley (when I take a shower, when I do laundry or dishes, I've stopped going for a morning walk, when I go out)
• I can't leave him in the house when I'm taking a shower so I put him in his kennel, he usually comes into the bathroom with me
• he'll get a sudden burst of energy and run through the living room and dining room, including behind the couch, he'll do a couple laps and then quit
• he steals things (cell phones, receipts, paper, fabric, food)
• he jumps up at me when he's coming in the back door
• he gets out of control just before bedtime (jumping up, biting, running around)
• he bites my head, ears when I bend over
  

Those are all the things I can think of right now. The list is oh so long. I know it's all interrelated and that once we start working on one thing it will have an effect on other things.

Here are some of the suggestions I've had from people I know in regard to how to deal with Harley:

• basket muzzle so he'll stop biting me
• tethering him to me or to furniture
• exercise him/wear him out
• give him stuff to chew on
• do more obedience training
• put him in doggy boot camp
• use an ecollar on him (shock collar)
• use a gentle leader on him
• do the alpha roll to establish dominance
• swat him
• ignore him
• euthanasia
• re-home

Those are just some of the things that have been suggested. There are probably more that I'm not thinking of right now.

After Harley got home from his 4 day incarceration at doggy day care he started biting me again almost immediately. I was so desperate to get help that I sent emails to:

• Cesar Milan
• Victoria Stilwell
• Dr. McKenney, his vet
• Dog Town (Best Friends)
• K9 Companion Inmate Dog Program
• Denver Dog Works
• Tenderfoot Training
• Ted Terroux
• Christine Kelly, CPDT (obedience trainer)
• Janice Mann, CPDT (colleague of Christine Kelly)
• Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue
• Jennie Willis Jamtgaard, PhD
• Sit Means Sit (ecollar)
• leerburg.com (prong collar)

I had responses from almost everyone. Rescues won't take him because of his history of biting and because he has to be separated from other dogs. Training programs are more than willing to work with him, at a cost. Everyone had suggestions as to how to handle this situation with Harley. Christine wouldn't work with him anymore because she doesn't have the time or expertise. Janice Mann (CPDT) is willing to work with Harley. So is Jennie Willis Jamtgaard (animal behaviorist).

I have found that there are as many methods of training as there are people. Everyone has their own idea of what will work to get Harley through this. The bottom line is that I have to decide what is right for Harley and what will help. So, we are going to have Dr. Jamtgaard evaluate Harley today and continue working with Janice Mann on his obedience. It's costly but Harley is worth it.

I've been posting about Harley's situation a lot in the Water Cooler of the financial forum. There are a lot of dog people there (including vets) who have tried to help me get some direction on this. It's also been great to have someone to vent with. The biting got really bad just before I put Harley in doggy day care for 4 days. I posted about it and got a lot of caring, supportive help. Again, as many opinions as there were people. I even had the Sit Means Sit people come out and evaluate Harley. I considered a shock collar. I don't want Harley to be afraid and operating out of fear. That's not a good relationship to have with him. I want him to behave because it's what works best for him. Right now misbehaving works best for him. He's gets tons of attention, even though it's all negative.

I just got a fresh shipment of toys in and he's already destroyed some of them. The only toys he had left were his Buster Cube and his Kibble Nibble (which had to be taken away from him when he wasn't using it because he chewed pieces off of it). He's very interested in the new toys but mostly he wants to destroy them. I got toys specifically for aggressive chewers and he still takes them apart within hours or sometimes even minutes. I spend a lot of money trying to get good toys and he just destroys everything. He can't have his toys out anymore because of his destructive nature. I'm afraid he's going to swallow something that he shouldn't (especially those plastic things that make the squeaking sound) and end up like Skooter. I don't want to have to go through another $2,000 surgery like we did with Skooter.

So, here it is 4am. The animal behaviorist will be here in about 10 hours. She will take about 45 minutes to evaluate Harley and then we'll discuss what his diagnoses are and what the plan of attack will be. My only qualm is whether Janice's and Jennie's techniques will clash. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Harley can be so loving at times. He can be so gentle. He chooses to be neither most of the time. I'm willing to work with him though. I want a happy, obedient, well-adjusted dog at the end of this. I know there's not really an end, that I'll always be working with Harley but I want there to be a point when I'm just living my life and Harley is just a companion who makes life even better.

This is where things are at with Harley. His original owner stopped contacting me about Harley. I wonder if she still has Harley's littermate, Hazle. It would be interesting to see what the other puppies are like. Sometimes I think that it's all me, that I just shouldn't own a dog. I'm willing to be without Harley if it is what would be best for him and for me but I'd rather keep him and love him. He was only 8 weeks old when we got him. He was too young to be taken away from his mother and his siblings. There is a lot he didn't learn from them (bite inhibition, impulse control, manners, etc.). I would never get a puppy that young again. The puppy would have to be about 3 months old before I'd take it. That would give it plenty of time to learn things and figure out how to socialize with other dogs. But that's neither here nor there. We have Harley and we need to work with Harley. He's our dog now.

YNAB-3 is coming!!

The only relationship this has to do with a dog is that I have 2 categories in YNAB Pro for food & supplies, vets, training. I can't wait until YNAB-3 comes out. The demos look awesome. If you need a budget YNAB is the place to go! Check out the YNAB-3 site here.

Neutered puppy

Harley came through his surgery with no problems. When I got there to pick him up though they asked me if he was part hound dog. I guess he had been howling a lot. He was awake and full of energy when I picked him up. On the drive home he settled down and mostly slept through the afternoon. He has surgical glue on the outside skin and sutures on the inside to hold everything together. He won't have to go back to get sutures removed. I got an e-collar from the vet but I'm going to do my best to keep it off of him. He doesn't like it all and goes crazy when I try to put it on him. I'm afraid he'll rupture the surgical site with his antics. So I'm just going to keep an eye on him and keep him from licking himself. I have to check him every day to make sure that the wound is not getting infected. I have pain medicine for him starting today and ending on Saturday. I'm hoping that it will keep him settled down.

It's only 5:30am and Harley and I are already up. He slept so much yesterday that he wanted out of his kennel at 5am this morning. Before I picked him up yesterday, I stopped at the natural pet store and got him a new bag of puppy chow and a bison bone. The bone is keeping him busy and away from his wound. He's been jumping up though. He doesn't seem to be in much pain at all. I'll probably wait to give him his pain medicine until later in the morning. Hopefully it will help him to sleep. I'll take a nap while he is sleeping.

He has to "rest" for the next 7 to 10 days. I think that's going to be difficult to do. He has so much energy, as usual. I'm just glad that he is doing okay and came through the surgery successfully. I was hoping he'd sleep in late today but I got the exact opposite of that. Oh well, I can always sleep later. I'm going to try and get a picture of his surgery if I can to post on the blog. We'll have to see how that goes though.

He's content chewing on his bison bone right now. I'd rather be sleeping. I am feeling better today but still not 100%. I am sure that Harley will keep me busy today. Please pray that he heals quickly and that there are no complications. Thanks.

Getting neutered

I woke up feeling sick this morning (congestion, cough, sneezing) so I'm not feeling up to blogging much. I did want to say that I took Harley to his extra puppy class yesterday and he did so well. We were doing off leash stuff and he was being very cooperative. It was a fun class. Tomorrow he goes in to get neutered. I'll pick him up around 2pm. Yeah, I'm not feeling well so that's it for now.

Doggy daycare went well

Harley and I are home. It was so empty around here while he was gone but now it's happy again. Ela said that he played from 8am til 12pm non stop. Nap time is from 12-2pm so he was in his kennel then. Apparently he has a LOT of energy. He seemed very happy to see me. I just gave him his Kibble Nibble because he didn't each much this morning and he missed lunch. Now he's chewing on his bison bone. He slept on the ride home as I thought he would. I'm hoping he'll sleep a bit this afternoon. I'm going to try to work it out so he can go to daycare one day a week. He really needs to be around other dogs more. Ela said that he had a great time playing with a chocolate lab and a rottie mix. They both are bigger than Harley. They were quick friends. He did potty in his kennel during nap time but I'm not too worried about that. Ela said he can definitely come back. I'm glad it worked out okay. I'm just glad to have him home.

Doggy daycare today

I took Harley to doggy daycare this morning. He's still there now. He went in without any problem. He seemed happy to be there. I'm going to pick him up around 2:30pm. I really miss having him here. It feels so lonely without him. If he did okay, I'll bring him to doggy daycare every other week while Maria is here cleaning the house. I also set up his appointment for neutering and the microchip. He'll go in the morning of the 20th of October and I'll pick him up around 2pm that same afternoon. Gosh, it just feels so empty here without Harley. I can't wait to pick him up. I am going to try and enjoy this time though. I haven't had time to myself for quite a while now. It's not all that it's cracked up to be though. It's boring without Harley. It will give me time to pick up the yard though. I'll get to that in a little bit. I hope Harley has a good time and is tired when he gets home from having such a fun day.

All is well

I've been distracted by some other things lately and haven't had a chance to blog. but I'm back on track today. Harley is getting so big. I'm going to take him over to PetsMart this week to weigh him. I'm sure he's gained more weight since our last visit to the vet (he was about 27 pounds then). Not too much has been going on around here. We did take Harley for a ride yesterday over to Garden of the Gods. We took the Jeep. He's able to stick his head out the window when he rides in the Jeep. He loves doing that. He looks so handsome when he's standing on the door, hanging out the window. I'll get a picture of him doing that the next time we go out for a drive.

Harley has been going into his kennel by himself at night to go to sleep. It's nice that he doesn't mind spending the night in his kennel. He's still sleeping through the night. He doesn't wake up until about 7am and sometimes he sleeps through until 8am. He's been pretty well behaved lately. He still has his 10 minutes of terror each day, but it's getting less intense. Today I went to the natural pet store and got 3 Buff Bites (bison shin bones) and 3 bags of Zukes for training. He's chewing on a Buff Bite right now. I also ordered more raw bison bones. They'll get here Wednesday. As long as he has interesting things to chew on he doesn't chew on things that he shouldn't.

He's able to get up on the couch and David's chair. I make him get right off though. He licks the leather and paws at the seat cushions of the couch so I can't let him stay up there. He's also taking a running start and jumping up into David's lap. He almost knocked David over in his chair. He's also figured out how to work the Tug-a-Jug. He pushes the rope thing in and then pulls it out. He gets kibble every time. He sure is smart.

Tomorrow will be Harley's first time at doggy daycare. I'm going to drop him off in the morning because I have a doctor's appointment and the cleaning lady is coming to clean the house. He'll be better off at daycare. I'm sure he'll have a good time too. It will be good for him to be around bigger dogs. I'm going to let him stay until afternoon time (after 2pm). He'll be very tired when he gets home.

I sent an email to the vet today asking if he'll be old enough to get neutered the week of October 19th. He'll be 19-20 weeks old then. I would like to do it then because he'll have two weeks off from training. I can't believe it's time for him to get neutered! He'll also get his microchip then. I'll feel so much better once he has the chip. After those things are done I'll send for his city license. he'll have four tags on his collar all together. I hope it doesn't weigh him down too much. lol

The GSP's

I was just sitting here thinking that if I had put in the time with the GSP's that I've put in with Harley that maybe it would have worked out. Hindsight is 20/20 though. They still would have been high energy dogs and I'm not sure that I could have given them enough to keep them busy. I think about Skooter, Moped, Huxley and Blitz all the time. I still miss them even though I'm so happy with Harley. I'm just so grateful that Kris helped us to get them more suitable homes. The GSP is still my most favorite breed but I will probably never own one again. I say probably because I know there is a chance that I would consider taking in a senior GSP down the road. It's not really on my radar at this point though. I still check the RM GSP site to see the dogs. I want anyone who is capable of owning a GSP to know abut the site so they can adopt a dog that needs a forever home. Kris does such unselfish work at the Rescue. She has saved many GSP's and found them wonderful homes, including my four. There is a special place in Heaven for people like Kris.

Harley is pretty mellow right now. He's playing with his Kong Tails toy. He loves that toy. It's going to be weird not having class on Sunday. I'm going to take advantage of it and enjoy the day. We might take Harley with us on a long ride. I think he would do okay. He'd probably sleep most of the drive anyway. David has to work tomorrow so I won't have him here for backup with Harley. Might be a good day then to get things done around the house (laundry, dishes, straightening up). I'll just have to put Harley in his kennel while I put laundry away so he doesn't steal our socks! I'm trying to break him of that behavior but it's not easy. He just loves playing keep away with socks. I thought about giving him his own sock but then I'm afraid that I would be encouraging the very behavior that I want to stop. He bit the tip of the nose off of his stuffed duck so I had to take it away for now. I'm going to pull out just enough stuffing that he can't get to it and then give it back to him. I might try doing that with his pheasant too.

It looks like the wind has calmed down. It's really beautiful out there today. I need to get Harley some new bison bones (the Buff Bites and the raw, meaty bones). He's pretty much chewed everything off of the ones he has. And just for general health reasons I want to switch them out. Maybe I'll stop at the natural pet store today and pick up two Buff Bites (they are bison shin bones). I'll have to put in an online order for the raw bones. He seems to like those the most.

I'm going to go for now. I have to leave here in 45 minutes and I want to take Harley out for another walk before I go.

Today's 1st walk

Today is trash day so I had to make sure that the backyard was completely picked up. It took just a few minutes to get it all done. After cleaning the backyard, Harley and I walked around the cul de sac. He did really well. He's figuring out the walking thing. Most of the time he is loose leash, which is what I want. He is enjoying today because it's a beautiful, cool fall day. I think that he enjoys the cooler weather more than the summer weather because his coat is black. He gets excited when he goes outside and the weather is nippy. He's been a pretty good puppy this morning. He even let me take a morning nap after I took my medicine, which included allergy medicine this morning. I have to leave in about an hour an 10 minutes for my appointment with Marianne. David should be home by 3pm. After my appointment with Marianne, I'm going to take the Jeep up to the Valvoline place and get the rear differential fluid changed out (there's ATF in there now instead of gear oil). I'm going to try to take Harley for another walk before I go to my appointment and then walk him again when I get home. Walking him really calms him down. He's much better behaved in the house when I've taken him out for a walk.

Fresh bison bone

I have been battling a headache for 2 days now. I think it's a sinus headache. It almost feels like a migraine is coming on. I mention all this to say that I haven't done much with Harley today. I'm glad I got that walk in earlier with him. He's been a very good puppy today. I don't think it's a coincidence that on days that I'm not feeling well Harley behaves so well. He is definitely in tune with me. He was home alone for a while this afternoon while we went to Walgreens for David to get his flu shot and gas up my car. I left Harley home with David while I took the Jeep to get an oil change and the tires rotated. I'm glad I found a place that can do the oil change and stuff in less than a half an hour. I can't sit over at Brakes Plus for 2 or 3 hours now that I have Harley. And it really is a great waste of time just sitting over there waiting. But I've found a good place now (Valvoline Instant Oil Change) and I don't have to leave Harley for the whole day.

Harley has been chewing on a bison bone all evening. I just took it out of the freezer tonight so it's fresh. He loves him some fresh bison bone. I'm glad my appointment tomorrow has been moved back to 2pm so that Harley won't have to be alone too long.

This headache is getting worse and I've already taken some Tylenol and Benadryl. I think it's going to be an early night for me and Harley.

He did great!

I went out and did all my errands this morning. I was gone for about 3 hours. Harley was wonderful and waited until I got home and let him out to do his business. He was pretty excited to have me home. I took him for a walk around the cul de sac and that got the pent up energy out of him. He's been just fine since then. As usual, he's chewing on a bison bone. I missed him while I was out this morning. I had to go get blood work done, stop at Wal-Mart, get the oil changed and the tires rotated in the Taurus, get my hair cut, get my flu shot, stop at the credit union and then finish up the grocery shopping at Target. Whew! And all that was done before noon! I didn't like leaving Harley for that long but I had to get all that stuff done today. I knew he would be okay. It's nice to know that I can leave him for a while so I can go out and get things done. I'll have to leave him tomorrow while I go to my appointment with Marianne. He should only be alone for about an hour and a half since David will be home by 3pm.

It's really windy out today and Harley has spent a lot of time looking out the sliding door at everything blowing around. When I took him on his walk, he was chasing leaves that blew past him on the ground. It was fun to watch. I can't believe how big he is getting. It amazes me that he is growing so fast. Before I know it he'll be full sized. Wow! I think I'm going to work on my online course since he's being so good. More later.

Quiet Day

I've been battling a headache all day so staring at the computer has been difficult. Anyway, we had a nice quiet day today. Harley has been a wonderful puppy. I got an email back from Christine and she let me know how much the Intermediate Class will be (very affordable!). She also suggested that we wait on doing an individual class with Harley until after the Intermediate Class is done. I'll go with her suggestion because I trust her training skills and abilities. Because of the headache I didn't do any real training with Harley, just little things here and there. He's chewing on a bison bone right now. My head is really hurting so I'm going to go for tonight.

Waiting

I started out the morning by letting Harley out of his kennel. I went out to the dining room and got his Kibble Nibble filled with his breakfast. Before he ate he went outside and did his business. Then he came in and pushed the Kibble Nibble around until all the food had been eaten. Then Harley started playing with his toys. I could see all the times that I could have made him wait for things but I wasn't thinking. I did make him wait for some things but not as many as I could have. So I sent an email to Christine asking about an individual session for Harley to work on the impulse control exercises. I hope to hear back from her sometime today. I also asked her about the cost for an individual session and the intermediate class.

I can see that Harley and I have the same problem - impulse control. Mine is with eating and spending; his is with everything. lol Seriously though, I can see that I don't always control my impulses and so I don't think to teach Harley to control his impulses. I think this will be one of those things that not only benefits Harley but will benefit me too.

I have a noon appointment with Marianne today so I need to get him out there walking a couple of times before I go out. I also need to get some Kongs in the freezer for him to have while I am gone. I have some grocery shopping to do today but that will have to wait until David is home this afternoon. I don't want to leave Harley longer than I have to.

He's on the living room floor right now chewing on one of his many bison bones. They really do keep him busy and keep him chewing on appropriate things. I'm glad that he enjoys his chew toys so much and that he doesn't destroy our stuff.

I need to start writing down all the things that he does that I need help with to get him to stop (jumping up on me, jumping on the tables, trying to get things off the tables, getting my clothes, especially socks, and running around the house trying to play keep away with them). I just don't know exactly what to do to get the behaviors that I want. For example, how do I get him to wait at the door even if the door is open? That's just one thing, but there are many more. That's why I need to write them down.

I guess I should get dressed and take him out for a walk. He really needs the exercise today and so do I!

Impulse Control

Okay, so in class today we did a little bit of everything - sit, down, leave it, wait, loose leash work and mat work. I had left his mat at class last week. Thankfully Christine set it aside for me. I told Christine about sitting in at Innovative K9. She didn't seem surprised at what I told her. I asked her about intermediate class and she said that it would start on November 1st. For October she's letting us go to the two scheduled classes (the 11th and the 18th) without paying any more for those two classes. We will of course have to pay for the intermediate class. So we're all set to keep training with Harley.

Christine said we really need to work on impulse control with Harley. Basically impulse control is getting him to wait on things (food, going in and out the door, petting). He does it a little bit but I need to work with him a lot more than I have to this point. I'm thinking of asking Christine if we can do one individual session for the impulse control stuff so I can write stuff down and videotape the exercises. I'll have to email her and ask if that would be possible. I'd like to go at a slower pace and focus on what we need to do to help Harley become a well behaved dog.

I think it would also benefit us so David and I can be on the same page with training. There is a lot we need to do to help Harley out and getting some individual training could really benefit all of us. I also want Christine to know that I'm really serious about helping Harley become a Canine Good Citizen.

Speaking of Harley, he's laying down in his kennel. He is really pooped from today's class. Star and Smokey were in class today. Rocky was there for a little while also. Christine had her GSP there for half the class. His name is Junior. Then Junior went home with her mom and Ginger joined us. The bigger dogs put Harley in his place and set boundaries with him. Actually even the smaller dogs set boundaries with him. Harley gets so out of control when he's around other dogs. He wants to play and he's kind of rough and frantic. I want to have him meet other dogs but he just plays too rough right now. I'm sure he'll get calmer as he gets older.

I was looking up impulse control stuff for dogs online. There's quite a bit of information out there. There were also some suggestions for exercises I could add to what Christine has given me. Now that I'm aware of the work we need to do regarding impulse control, I can see in almost every situation how I could make him wait on something (door, food, petting) and work on impulse control. I think it all just boils down to me spending a lot more focused time with Harley and making everything we do every day a learning opportunity.

It's nice that Harley got a certificate for finishing up his six classes but I really don't feel he's graduated yet. He still has a lot to learn. Or should I say, I have a lot more to learn. ;)

Graduation Day!!

Harley had his sixth class today and graduated from Puppy Kindergarten! Contratulations, Harley!

Ouch!

Harley finally got to biting us tonight. He bit David twice and me once. Harley's teeth are just so sharp. I can't wait until he gets his adult teeth. I'm going to talk to Christine about what we can do about the biting. It just comes out of nowhere. He'll just jump up and bite. I'm not sure if he's teething yet or not. He sure is going crazy on his bison bone though. Better the bison bone than us.

It'll all work out

Okay, I'm over it now. I have a new found appreciation and respect for Christine that I did not have before today. I mean, I appreciate and respect her but now it is at a totally different level than before I went to sit in on the classes today (actually stayed for two classes because I just couldn't believe that the first class was for real). All I can do is pray that we can continue training with Christine. Harley has really learned so much in just 6 weeks time with Christine guiding us. I know what it's like to have older dogs who aren't trained so I'm not judging the owners but I do judge the trainer for not doing a very good job. She sat in a chair the whole time and just told people what to do. She never showed them anything herself. She just talked at everyone. For at least half the class the dogs were just sitting learning how to be patient. Not that being patient is a bad thing but come on there's got to be more to keep the dogs entertained and focused than just walking and sitting. They say they only use positive reinforcement there but I saw a lot negative stuff being done. I don't know much about training (obviously) but I can tell when training isn't positive and today it wasn't. I really didn't know how to tell the lady that I was basically appalled by their training methods so I just left it as "I'll give you a call". Actually I'll probably send her an email to let her know that I'm not interested. I won't just leave them hanging. Now I'm really looking forward to all the hard work we will be doing in class tomorrow. Christine is gone the next week so I'm not sure when we'll get back to training. Hopefully it will be the following week.

Harley is thrilled that I'm home since I've been gone so much today. And I have to say that I am thrilled to be home with him. I really appreciate him after seeing older puppies who are out of control. I know what it's like and I don't want to live through it again. It really makes me realize that I need to be very committed to Harley's training. I want him to be well behaved but that's not going to happen on it's own. It will take an investment on my part for it to happen.

So I'm psyched for class tomorrow but I'm also sad not knowing what will happen after this weekend. I'm sure it will all work out.