When Strangers Call

Last week, I posted 5 Things For Your Dog To Do When You Have Visitors. In the comments, the issue of accidentally rewarding behaviors I didn't want, or aggressive behaviors came up, and while they weren't what I was addressing, it was a good point!

Much as I try to talk the talk, I am not a dog training professional. If your dog is truly displaying aggression, be it human aggression or dog aggression, you should seek help from a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist, who will have studied extensively in areas such as those to meet your needs. The Internet, while a magical place of information and  fun, won't necessarily be tailored to your dog and your dog's needs, or adequately explain how you yourself can "fix" things, or even give an accurate and appropriate diagnosis.

That said, I covered briefly what your dog can do when you have friends over. I've posted a picture (that I'll post again here in a few words) of Elka waiting for a delivery person. But, what do you do when a stranger comes to your house? Jehova's Witness, repo man, delivery personnel, door to door sales? What is appropriate for your dog to do, and what do you want your dog to do?

Tasty Tuesday, February 28 2012

Because I already spend so much time telling you how good Elka is, what's one more, right? (If this leads you to believe this is the last one, I apologize. I'm sure it isn't.)

Remember at Christmas, we went visiting? And my grandparents were so happy with how good Elka was? Well, I left out a detail that to me hadn't seemed like such a big deal. A giant house made out of chocolate.

How could it not be a big deal? Well, we didn't eat it. My grandparents won it at a local culinary institute raffle. And then, after Christmas, donated it to their local senior center, where it got eaten with nary a bite saved for either of them!

But, Elka didn't eat it either. Or even sniff at it after the first "leave it". Of course, she was supervised the entire time we were visiting. In addition to a giant chocolate house, I'm sure there were other non dog safe items around that I couldn't even anticipate, because my grandparents are not pet owners. But everything was fine.

Monday Mischief: February 27 2012

I've probably mentioned, though maybe not in these exact words, that Dobermans are said to be "Velcro dogs". 

It's true, of course. Even if she was asleep, if you get up off the couch to do something, Elka gets up too and goes right along with you. She "heels" fantastically off leash in the house, like a dream really! If you're in the bathroom, with the door closed, she's concerned for your safety and will whine outside. We're working on that one though; I encourage her to be quiet, and lay down in the kitchen doorway and wait. If she's like that when I get out of the bathroom, it's treat time. If not, "too bad". 

When we're sitting on the couch, Elka wants to be close to you. Very close. It's especially nice in the winter, I'll say, when it is in fact cold. However, Elka is not as aware of her paws as she is of her mouth, and we get stomped on more than we'd like! She will also, if you're taking up "too much" couch or chair space, sit or lay on you.

Books on the brain

So, I've been thinking for a little while about maybe doing a little ebook.

Dog training, for Dobermans, that kind of thing. What do you guys think? It could be as simple as putting my Command Clinics together; even though there are only 7 (according to my tags. I don't think I missed any?), they're kind of "things your dog should know, plus some fun stuff". Of course I'd need a zippier title than that!

There are a lot of dog training ebooks on Amazon.com, and I'm sure some of them are better than others. That's definitely one reason I've been thinking of this. If they can do it, I can too, right? Plus, there's always a deficit of Doberman information.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Requests? Lay it on me! Tell your friends. I'd really love to hear them!

Wordless Wednesday, February 22 2012

Tasty Tuesday, February 21 2012

I was mean to Elka today.

Not <i>mean</i> mean. Just..."testing her self control" mean. A little background: earlier in the day, I had given her a Monster Mouth. I noticed at the time, but didn't follow up on it, that one of the little molasses cookie treats I'd used to stuff it with had bounced out of the "area of play". Several hours later, Elka was chewing on something, which I instructed her to drop it. And she did.

So, I upped the ante.

Monday Mischief, February 20 2012

As you can see, Elka was not impressed by my waking her up so that I could take this picture.

I'll direct you to the change in her tags, though. That red thing, next to the "dog tag" shaped dog tag? We thought adding a bottle opener would be a useful thing. Many bottles nowadays are twist offs, but it stinks to get settled down and then realize that you in fact need a tool. What better way to remedy that than to have a roving, callable one?

And dont' worry. Princess fell back to sleep without any trouble.