Good morning!
It's a beautiful day out there this morning. The sky is blue, the sun is out and the birds are chirping in a nearby tree. Ozzy and I just came back from very nice walk. Our walks have changed dramatically since I learned how to be the pack leader of my pack! I'll tell you about that in a minute.
Ozzy has had his treat and his breakfast and is now sleeping on a suitcase that is supposed to be in the basement. I am having my coffee and enjoying a nice, quiet morning, but we had a hectic morning before our walk. Ozzy was looking for his chicken which has disappeared. We've looked in dark corners, under the couch and chairs, and in the basement, but Chicken is nowhere to be found and that's not good because Ozzy loves his chicken! Chicken is actually a duck, but I thought it was a chicken, so the name stuck. Sometimes, I think Chicken is like a security blanket for Ozzy and if I had changed Ozzy's name, I would have named him Linus :)
Chicken was an instant hit because it's soft and it squeeks. I bought it the same day I adopted Ozzy, so we've had it for over a month now. Ozzy was already a pro at playing fetch and was learning "drop it" when Chicken disappeared. Today, I'm going back to Petsmart to buy two chickens in case Chicken #'1 doesn't reappear and in case Chicken #2 disappears, too!
I have two adorable photographs of Ozzy sleeping on Chicken that are on my cell phone that I will try to upload for you later on. For now, here are two pics of my son M and Ozzy :)
Ozzy's eyes look like they've hypnotized M! LOL!
What has happened is that we will play fetch for a bit, I get tired :) and then, he begins to chomp on Chicken, gets bored or tired and falls asleep with Chicken in his mouth mid-chew. It's adorable and he actually, begins to snore and 'knead' the rug like a cat does remembering when they were nursing from their mothers. It's very cute and makes me forget that he chewed up the heel of my very expensive black pumps :) He never lets go of Chicken and now, Chicken is lost.
So back to our walks. Our walks have changed from Ozzy pulling me along to us actually walking side by side. I can hardly believe the almost instantaneous change in him once I put to practice his techniques. I have Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer to thank for our nice walks and more calm inside behavior. Gracias, Cesar!
A couple of nights ago, my daughter H and I watched some videos online that changed how Ozzy interracts with us and us with him. I watched in amazement as the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, taught a couple of humans how to be the pack leader of the unruly, undisciplined, 'problem children' in their pack. Amazing!
I already knew about dogs and the pack mentality as I've had dogs all my life. Most of my dogs were 'problem children' who were given to me or I asked to adopt. I accepted their behavior as who they were because of what they'd experienced and with love, supervision and constant reinforcement, some negative behaviors were erradicated, but not all. I had a female Cocker Spaniel named Sadie who was a biter and she never gave up biting. We had to keep her separate and safe from children and not give her an opportunity to bite. Boy, I wish we'd had Cesar back then. I would have loved to have seen him work with Sadie. She had come from an abusive family and we adopted her when she was two years old. She remained with us for 12 years and was my very favorite dog, yes biting and all. I just loved her and miss her.
Anyway, before I get teary-eyed. Shite, too late. Anyway, Ozzy was easy to leash up, he was great in the house, only had a couple of early accidents in the house when I brought him home, he was not a barker and despite the unfortunate heel incident, he's a great dog :)
Well, as H and I watched and listened to Millan in my bed one night, I realized that I was NOT the pack leader of my pack! My daughter and I laughed so hard when we both realized that Ozzy was the friggin' pack leader according to the expert! LMAO! I fell back in the bed and just laughed at how I thought I was the boss by virtue of the fact that I'm the oldest, I paid for Ozzy and he lives with me! I feed the little bugger, for goodness sake! How is it that I am NOT the pack leader!? LOL!
I love psychology, always have and now, I am very interested in dog psychology!
Here's what was happenening right under my nose and I didn't even notice.
INSIDE THE HOUSE:
Because Ozzy was a rescue dog, I felt sorry for him.
My tone of voice was sweet, kind, all the time.
My voice was high pitched and didn't command attention when I spoke to him.
I allowed him to jump on me and anyone who came to the front door.
Because he's a Pug, he looks sad and depressed which, of course, he's not!
He still has issues with the command "come". Does not respond right away.
I went to him with his treat after his walk . He backed up and I followed him with the treat.
I approached with the leash and he backed up slightly. Even though he LOVES his walks!
I get his harness on, attach leash and he would run to the door, go out the front door first, down the stairs first and continue to pull and lead me along wherever he wanted to.
OUTSIDE:
Since I wanted to make sure he did his 'business' before going home, I'd allow him to sniff here and there, meander with no real direction.
Ozzy is a very friendly dog, so he'd jump on anyone who walked by which scared the crap out of a young Indian boy :/
After HIS walk, not OUR walk (lol) he'd pull me up the hill, up the stairs, enter our house first and wait for his treat which I'd bring to him! LOL!
You'd think that I would have gotten it, BUT the thing was? I felt sorry for Ozzy! Poor little rescue dog was taking the lead in my house and I was serving the Master! The reason I know this? Because after two weeks of fantastic, good behavior, Ozzy began barking, running up to the front door and windows barking at anything that moved. Play time was now including playful nipping, not biting, but he was taking our fingers into his mouth. Ozzy was slowly taking charge and one morning, I found ol' Mister Pug snoring right beside me in bed! I LOVE my dogs, but I don't sleep with my dogs. Especially, a grunting, snoring, snorting, licking, heavy breathing Pug! If you don't believe me, ask ANY Pug owner, they're LOUD!
SO, after watching five videos of Millan's, H and I couldn't wait to shake up things at the Smith house! We couldn't wait to put the Dog Whisperer's tips, advice and techniques to work with Ozzy.
Before turning over in bed that night, I said good night to Ozzy and added:
"Ozzy. Your bossy boss days are over, Buddy." I couldn't be sure, but I thought I heard Ozzy turn over in his bed, murmuring, "In your dreams, Sweetheart."
The next morning, I came down the stairs first (I'd always let Ozzy tear down first) and got his harness and sat down on the last step of the staircase and in a firm voice said, "Come, Ozzy." He just looked at me :) I put the harness down and went to get a small treat in the pantry and sat down again.
I said "Come, Ozzy". He knew I had a treat, so I held it out and said, "come" and he came over. I put his harness on and then, gave him a treat. I then, stood up and walked to the front door and Ozzy pushed past me. I gently moved him back and blocked the front door with my body and put his leash on. I then, opened the front door and went down the stairs first and he immediately, began pulling forward!
According to Millan, the dog out front is a leader position, duh. True! I kept Ozzy's leash short and for about 20 minutes we walked, he pulled, I jerked his leash quickly, stopped him, returned him to my side. When he didn't obey, I pulled him back, sat his backside down and waited a few seconds. We'd resume walking and when he began trotting ahead, I'd do the same thing, adding a poke to his shoulder to remind him what we were doing and a firm, low "hm!"
I kid you not, we 'battled' on the way down the hill, but when he finished his business and we walked back up to our house, it was like I had a different dog on the leash! We did this three more times that day and this morning, all I had to do was murmur "hm!" and he'd remember to walk slowly by my side. Amazing :)
Now, our walks are enjoyable, he no longer nips when he plays, barking has ceased with the same "hm!" command and we're happier. H was amazed, too. He walked with her like a calm, focused dog.
We are now searching for a good dog park nearby because our walks are nice, but Ozzy needs some playmates and some running around fun while off-leash. I've never been to a dog park, so this should be fun for both of us, I hope! He's great with other dogs, but we're still working on "come" :)
He has a bit of a stubborn streak, still. But, he's one fast learner. I take that back...I AM A FAST LEARNER! LOL!
Have a wonderful Thursday, everyone.
Peace and love.
E
p.s. We're still looking for Chicken...and my cell phone cord that downloads pics from my phone to my laptop...
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