[Erika]

I wanted to work with her for a while before commenting.

Mike, what you said about going with mother nature is spot on. Once the puppy settled in and realized this was her place and she had a routine a lot of the behaviors started to go away on their own.  Her desire to be near me, made her naturally wanting to learn to gain praise and she started to learn very quickly once we found our groove.  All I had to do was encourage the things in her that were potentially positive.  …In hindsight I think part of her anxiety could have been anticipating something unknown or scary. I do know the breeder is a screamer and I did once see her hit a 5 week old puppy in the nose with a flip flop so … who knows.  That stuff doesn’t happen here so that had to be weird, waiting for something that just doesn’t come… till finally it just stops bothering you. I guess that could have been going on?

Now though she’s awesome!  Bold, inquisitive, outgoing, friendly, happy, joyful – she’s like that cool hang out dog.  Emelee won’t chase the cats, rabbits or chickens. She doesn’t go after the horses (Magic will screw with the horses)  The only problem now is that I’m no dog trainer, and at this point I’m at the dangerous juncture of I could accidentally teach her bad things out of ignorance because she’s a learning maniac.  This is the point where I completely cry about distance.

The trick you said with the submissive urination also worked. I just never acknowleged it. (spelling it’s early) I never looked at it or commented at it or even looked in her face when she did it. Once she started to relax it started to abate. Again, I did as you said, kept a predictable routine, never acted in anger, never over reacted, always positive. It works.  She actually went for a microchip the other day and didn’t even poop or puke in the car a total FIRST although I still had to drag her up into the jeep because she doesn’t know climb and doesn’t voluntarily climb or jump on anything. Gonna need some help with that lol.

 

[Erika]

PS she came to me with the submissive peeing issue. I’m trying to learn what voice tones to use to avoid it – and avoiding direct eye contact helps. I also don’t address her with my open chest, I turn slightly to the side to appear more passive.

 

[Erika]

Awesome thank you for the chart! I’m printing it right now.  I let the dogs out every morning at 5am, the problem puppy is basically only happy if she is up my butt. This dog is not confident. I do not know what the breeder did with her for the first three months of her life but knowing that breeder she was screamed at all the time and probably hit. I saw the breeder hit a 5 week old puppy from the girl’s litter in the nose with a flip flop before I picked up the first puppy Camille.  So the problem puppy Emelee is in need of confidence boosting also.  This morning I let her out to poop and went inside to grab my jacket. By the time I came out she had already broken the fountain and tried to eat through the back door to get back inside. She comes in and RUNS to her crate and sits at the door. It’s actually really sad.  I don’t want to make it worse by allowing her to basically be with me ALL the time – which is what she wants, I’m afraid that will cause future separation anxiety issues.  Right now the only dog I let her hang out with is Magic who is really tolerant of her but will join right in on the hole digging if it starts happening. So the two together is also a bad combo haha omg these dogs!  Printed out the chart and will watch for behavior trends.  Thanks Gentleman will keep you posted!

[Erika]

That’s a really good idea – I’d love to give her a soft spot to dig in… I have horses on the property and holes and digging are actually a hazard. I’m trying to combat boredom by not leaving her in the yard for too long. I’m going to give the beach a try too 🙂 Thanks!

 

[Erika]

I haven’t used the site from my phone yet, and it’s an andriod – do you guys recommend downloading this app or just stick with my computer?