No more excuses

A post by the momma:

 

Have you ever found yourself making excuses for your dog's behavior?

 

"Sorry, he's acting that way because he's not feeling well."

 

"I think he must be having a bad day..."

 

"He's not a fan of the vet's office."

 

"Oh, sorry, you caught him off guard!"

 

"He's normally a good dog, he's even a Canine Good Citizen!"

 

"Oops, you're standing kind of funny and frightening him."

 

"He doesn't really like short people, or tall people, or people of average height..."

 

"You must smell funny."

 

In reality, what I should be saying is: "Sorry, I haven't been giving my dog the proper attention and training that I should be, and, because of my lack of responsible pet ownership, my dog has spiraled down a windy road of misbehavior."

 

Me?  What's wrong with my behaviors?

 

That's where I'm at. I'm not saying that Corbin is a horrible dog, he's no where near that, nor am I a horrible owner.  I just haven't been the best owner.  When we adopted Corbin, we knew we adopted a life long commitment of training and enforcing positive behavior. Last year with his mystery pain, we slacked off on the walks because he wasn't allowed much exercise while we tried fixing the problem. But, when we were able to start exercising him more, we had fallen out of the routine of daily walks and it was hard to get back into it. So, as an awful dog momma, I'm here to admit that Corbin has not had regular exercise or training in over a year.

 

There, I said it.

 

It wasn't bad at first... his back pain kept him at a lower energy level and he was satisfied with a hard core game of fetch in the back yard. Plus, we've done a lot of training with him, so it took a while for him to realize no one was going to enforce it. A day without a walk turned into a week without a walk, turned into a month without a walk and so on. He's been walked, just not on any sort of a regular basis. Then, my mom had back surgery and I was distracted by that, so Corbin's lack of training continued. And, my dad was hospitalized, diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away 5 weeks later last fall... so, that took up all my time and energy. Learning how to accept and deal with my dad's death still takes up a lot of my time and energy, which also causes Corbin a lot of anxiety.

 

See, momma... we've practiced SOME trainings.

 

Now a year has gone by. A year of minimal walking and minimal training. We've gotten lazy and his behavior has slowly been getting out of hand... Corbin's behavior when visitors come to the house has gotten slightly worse each time. It was such a subtle amount worse each time that it was hard to detect until all of the sudden you realize the dog who used to calmly sit in the kitchen to wait for people to enter the house and his signal to calmly greet them was now enthusiastically flying nose first off the couch into the face of your family and friends. The dog who used to be able to greet and socialize with other dogs was now growling and unfriendly to nearby pooches. Seeing other dogs often happened at the vet, and since we were still able to bring foster dogs home, I excused it by believing he was upset and uncomfortable at the vets. But, I started realizing that it's not just at the vets office, and he was starting to develop a problem that I needed to correct.  I needed to stop making excuses and do something. 

 

His energy level has also changed. After his last back flare up in January, the steroids have really helped his pain. So, he's feeling good and his energy is back to what is was before any of this happened. After a year of a pretty calm dog, I was pretty unprepared. And, since he's a little cranky around other dogs, having a foster to play with him was no longer an acceptable outlet for his energy.

 

Bwahaha, I run this place.

 

So, here I am... realizing that my lack of a simple 10 minutes of training a day, or a 30 minute loose leash walk a day has resulted in Corbin pushing his limits and being allowed to get away with his misbehavior.

 

What am I going to do to correct it?

 

I like Kongs and dental chewies... it takes the edge off of my energies.

 

Well, for starters, Corbin has been getting a little less food in his food dish and instead getting a frozen Kong when I leave for work with a mash of veggies and meats. We've been able to cut out enough food in his meals to make up for the calories in his Kong so he doesn't get chubby. This is a bit of mental activity for his crate time when we're away. I also recently ordered a Kong Wobbler, which I've heard so many great things about. Corbin will be getting his dinner out of the wobbler, more mental work. And, on days when it's raining or muddy and fetch or walking isn't available (Corbin's not a fan of being wet)... we play hid and go seek in the house. Corbin does a sit/stay in the kitchen and I hide throughout the house, call him, and he has to come find me.  It may sound silly, but it tires him out WONDERFULLY and we play it quite often.  Plus, he really seems to enjoy it.

 

Does this mean I have to put my snood into summer hibernation?

 

Now that the weather is getting nicer, it's more enticing for walks. So, hopefully we can get back into the routine of daily walks. We also have a great park near us where we used to meet up with some other dog friends for walks on the 3 mile trail. We'll be calling Maggie Mae and Max soon to have them meet us!

 

We worked with a great trainer when we first adopted Corbin and learned a lot of great techniques, so we know what needs to be done to get these issues under control again. But, I also enjoy doing training classes with Corbin and like the opportunity to learn more. So, Corbin and I are set up to attend a "Focus and Self Control" workshop at our local shelter in a few weeks. It's a one time class, 2 hours long. I can't commit to a 6 week class at the moment, so this sounded like the perfect class to get us back on our feet.

Shhhh, momma.  The Corbin is perfect.

I know the Corbin shown to you on the blog is just about perfect -and he is.  But, just like with any dog, he needs to continue to be set up for success and continue to have limitations and expectations.  For Corbin, it really is just 10 minutes a day of training: practicing sit, stay, down, wait, etc.  And he loves it, he loves training, he loves walks, he loves to work.  So, although life has gotten in the way recently, I still find time to brush my teeth, shower daily, do my laundry, comb my hair... training my dog should be one of those things so stuck in my routine, I don't leave the house or go to bed without doing it.  Corbin deserves that.  And, it clears my head... something I could definitely use some more of.  He knows his commands so well, it's not a frustrating experience for either one of us.  And, what's a better feeling than working on the communication and bond with your favorite 4 legged friend?

We'll keep you updated on our progress the next few weeks!