Best posts made by Jerseygirl01

Our Rosie would do anything to avoid stepping into an area where she had peed or pooped before. We got her at approx 6 months, a mixed breed. She would almost levitate to get away from stepping in places that she might have peed in two weeks before. Sometimes she'd do this and almost yank my arm off because it was such a violent leap. Eventually this behavior wore off (phew!). Ditto for the only going in the tall weeds. That took me standing with her in a confined area, on a leash, until she had to go. She is now almost two years old and mostly these behaviors are behind us. I would suggest that making a walk the reward for going potty is a viable way of encouraging a dog to go potty. You are correct about the ease that a pup gets distracted. Leaves, birds, cars, etc. I put a chair out in the dog yard and just sat in it with the dog (previous and current) on a regular 6' lead. Than I just waited. It was tough in the snow but in a way bad weather helps motivate a pup to get their business done. Just a suggestion that I found very useful. Once they went potty, then a game of ball or a walk was their reward.

Since I've started letting Rosie sleep with me, she has been doing a very funny pre-sleep ritual. She jumps on the bed while I finish all the mundane last things to do before climbing in. I have to push her out of the way and then hop in and toss the covers over me before she dances on them. As soon as my head is on the pillow she moves up behind my head and lays her head on mine (or on my neck). She tries to get a few kisses in while she does this and it's all done with great enthusiasm. I give her some strong pats and hugs (behind my head) and then she moves down to the bottom of the bed to sleep. It's really quite endearing, a little pushy but not aggressive. It's very similar to how she acts when I'm on hands and knees trying to retrieve toys from under the lounge chair. She crawls under me, kisses me, paws at my hands, and basically gets in the way in the sweetest manner. It''s hard to ask for good behavior when I'm laughing and enjoying how thrilled she is to have Momma down on her level. I'm assuming that this is basic pack behavior.

I'm with zande. My Cardi was always a big boy at around 40#, sometimes over that. To keep weight off, I used good quality kibbles as 1/3d of his diet. Of course there were bedtime biscuits and biscuits when going in his cage if we had to go out. So supper was 1/3 of the normal amount of kibbles and the rest made up of veggies. He'd eat anything raw or cooked except celery and fennel. Ergo I could use cup 1C of fresh bagged coleslaw mix on top of his kibbles and he'd chow down. Ditto for any kind of lettuce/greens although I did limit things like spinach and kale. Romaine was always a hit. #10 cans of green beans worked well and once opened, I could freeze them in 1 cup portions. One of the best was canned pumpkin. Again the #10 cans were very reasonable. I could use 1/2 - 1 cup of canned pumpkin with no adverse effects on bowels. Plus the carotene made the red in his coat (a nice sable with lovely white points) get a nice color. I would buy large sweet potatoes, microwave one and then split it three ways between the two of us and the dog. He got the skins too. According to the UK veterinary Summary of Dog Health, 2004, Cardi's live to an average of 12.5 years. Duncan lived to 15 yrs, 7 months. Most of his decline occurred in the latter 3 years so he did very well on his diet. Using the 1/3 kibbles and 2/3 veggies (raw could be pretty fluffy and require a bit more, cooked a bit less) I was able to keep his weight at 39 - 40# (verses his high of 45#). One of the nice things about keeping the diet simple was that when we traveled, I could provide the veggie portion by going to any grocery store. As long as I had his kibbles we were ready to go.

I don't have experience with this but would a bell on her collar provide some help? Others have more knowledge. I'm just thinking about the song "Who'll tie the bell on the old cat's tail??"

Adopted Rosie four weeks ago. She is a delight, quite the unusual dog in many ways. She bonded to me quickly and had several episodes of being with my husband in the house but howling because I was gone. Now that she is more integrated in the family, she seems to be getting the hang of us coming and going. She rarely barks, only wants to go potty in the long weeds. The latter I started working on yesterday as we want to travel with her and we go places where private/weedy plots won't be available. Today we had a really positive step as she went potty on the grass in only 15 minutes of waiting. She was presented as a 10 months old so we are figuring she is about 1year old. For a terrier type, she is low energy, calm, fairly tractable, and just a joy to be with. As an adopted dog, with no know background, it's obviously to me that she was gently treated in her first year. While it doesn't appear that she was taught verbal commands, she has a mouth like silk, gentle to the extreme. She is quickly picking up hand and verbal commands. She is just an incredibly happy and loving dog. Our previous dog was a wonderful Cardigan Welsh Corgi named Duncan. He lived for 15.5 years, the last two+ with diabetes insipidus, arthritis, thyroid, cataracts, and progressive hearing loss. We've waited 4 years to get a replacement dog as Duncan was a voting member of the family and we needed space to do some things that you couldn't do with a sick dog. When we took Rosie to our old vet for her first checkup, our vet said that Rosie was worth waiting for. High praise from our vet

At 15 years old, Lenny has lived a very good life due to your love and diligence in caring for him. If he feels better on your homemade suppers, then I say more power to you both. He is at the age of diminishing returns when it comes to treating health problems. Love him, feed him what he likes, and when either he quits wanting to eat or quits being able to get around, seriously consider helping him move on. Our Cardi Duncan lived the last three + years with arthritis (two daily drugs for that), diabetes insipidus (eye drops twice a day costing an arm and a leg), synthroid for thyroid. He lived to be 15yrs and 7 months, over 2.5 years longer than the UK dog mortality suggested was average for a Cardigan Welsh Corgi. Ultimate decision to help him on was because we could no longer keep him comfortable with the arthritis. We'd had him for way longer than expected and it was the last and greatest gift we could give him, a gentle death being touched by my husband and I who adored him and his vet who'd treated him since before he was born and who wept as she put him to sleep. Hope Lenny continues to thrive on your own diet and whether you measure the time he has left in months or years, enjoy every minute of it. Thinking of you both!

Try the way we trained our Cardigan Welsh Corgi Duncan to not nip/bite. Every time your dog nips your ankles, make a high pitched yip (like an injured puppy) and turn away. Your dog should be surprised and try to get around you to see your face. You may have to turn away again. Just do not make eye contact for at least a minute. Try and stand in the same spot, just rotating away from direct eye contact. Do not say NO. Don't give any verbal commands as the high pitched yip says everything about how you've been hurt. You are communicating on a canine level. In puppy play, when a pup gets hurt and yips, the play also stops. If done consistently, you should see real improvement in a week or less. I also suggest doing "hand games" using a towel or the blankets on the bed. Cover you hand, then make it move around like a mouse. Your youngster should find that irresistible and try to catch it. A soft mouthing is OK. Anything more than that gets a yip, eyes averted, and play stop for a minutes. Don't be surprised if your dog tries to kiss you as it will want the play to continue. After the minute, start the play again and repeat. Duncan developed an incredibly soft mouth doing this. With his ankle nipping, he learned not to nip using the technique I described above. When he got excited, he did "bump" our ankles. We felt that this was acceptable behavior. With our new dog Rosie, I'm not considering the bumping to be acceptable, not because it bothers us but because a stranger might misconstrue the bump to be a bite. We called the game with a hand under the covers to be "Mousie Mousie". If the blanket was over the dog's head, the game was called "Moalie Moalie" and we would tap the dog's nose while it tried to catch our hand (but he had to be gentle!!). These are really fun games to do with your pup and it will learn real bite control for life.

@debradownsouth I do plan on doing a DNA test after a bit. Short term plans are to continue working with commands and getting a private lesson this month. The next group lessons I can attend don't start until September and I want to work with Rosie over the summer. The trainer I plan on taking her to is also an examiner for Canine Good Citizen Certificate and I'm thinking that would be a good goal for us to work towards. Thanks for your compliment! She's proving to be an incredibly good fit with my husband and myself (seniors) and is rapidly filling Duncan's paw prints with her own brand of canine wonderfulness.

@elbrant I second Elbrant. Canned pumpkin is supposed to be regulating, whether the problem is diarrhea or constipation. Personally, if you try this and your pup tolerates it but you don't see any improvement, I would up the amount every couple of days until you do see some change (+ or -). Your dog probably will find it quite acceptable.