#14 Training Puppy
June 1st: I haven’t had time to write for so long. This puppy has turned into a fulltime job. She is cute and funny but she is also a paw full of trouble. She chews up my toys. She eats my food. She sleeps on my bed. She is such trouble. She still bites!
June 3rd: I’ve decided that I will have to take over training this puppy. The first thing I want her to learn is to NOT BITE. Lain has tried. The puppy doesn’t bite her anymore. All she had to do was stop playing with her when she started to bite. That hasn’t worked for me.
June 4th: Well, I bit her. She didn’t like that very much. My teeth are BIG. I didn’t bite her hard, just a little bite. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I got in trouble.
June 5th: She isn’t biting me anymore. Now it is time to teach her to keep cats out of the yard. I’m getting old and those cats are fast! Running after cats should be easy for that puppy and keep her busy for part of the day.
June 7th: When I see a cat, I bark “CAT IN THE YARD” loudly. Then I run out the puppy door to chase them away. Puppy is getting the idea. She runs with me but anything can distract her and off she goes chasing butterflies or something else that doesn’t need chasing.
June 15th: The cat chasing training is getting better. Now puppy follows me out the door and helps do the chasing! Now all I need is to get her to do it by herself.
June 16th morning: I saw a cat this morning. I barked my special “CAT IN THE YARD” bark and started to run for the door. The puppy came with me. About half way there I stopped and she kept going! But as soon as she realized I was not with her, she came back. Silly puppy, she just doesn’t get the idea that I’m turning the job over to her. I’ll try again.
June 16th afternoon: Again a cat dared to come into the yard. Again I did my “CAT IN THE YARD BARK” and took off running. Puppy ran, too! I stopped half way to the door. Puppy kept going. After she was outside, I put my head out through the puppy door to watch her. Sure enough, when she realized I wasn’t with her, she started back. So, I barked, “CAT IN THE YARD”, again! She turned and ran for the cat! Yes, she will learn.
June 20th: Puppy is now chasing cats for me. I bark, “CAT IN THE YARD.” She gets up even if she is sleeping and runs for the door. She loves to do the barking after she is outside. I think the cats know if they don’t run from her, I will come out and bark their ears off. I’m still Top Dog around here.
July 1st: This “CAT IN THE YARD” bark is getting to be very useful. If puppy is bugging me and I want to get rid of her, I can just bark, “CAT IN THE YARD, and off she goes! Wow! I didn’t know how powerful it was going to be. I AM TOP DOG.
I've got sniffing to do. Talk to you later.
Emma Basset