I just realized yesterday that the way my girls deal with animals and bullies is exactly the same, and it completely dictates how they are treated in return.
It started with a text message just before church last night. Darby got a semi-harassing message from a NY number, saying they knew her and had important info for her. When Darby texted back, he or she only replied with sarcasm and would not say who it was. Darby left the phone in the car, and said that if it was actually a friend, they could respond nicely or she didn't have time for them.
After Mass she had five new messages... the first couple continuing with the sarcasm and the rest getting much nicer. It turned out it was a good friend of hers who was just being silly, so she did laugh in the car, but still demanded from him that he be nice if he wanted her to text back in the future.
Zuzu and Koshka get the same from her. She holds all the cards in the relationship. But, when they are kind to her, she never holds back on her kindness and love and affection for them, just as she does for her true human friends as well.
Tressa is very different. She is so much more willing to work for a friendship. It makes it much harder for her and she takes a whole lot more abuse from both people and animals, because she loves everyone.
I am not saying that she's weak - she definitely is not! She won't hesitate to let a friend or animal know that they have done something wrong and have overstepped their bounds, but after the correction comes forgiveness and the willingness to start again. Not all friends or pets understand that as well as the cold shoulder treatment they get from Darby, but in her own way, Tressa is very blessed by her actions. Some friendships don't come easily, but are still very worth the effort. And with pets, someone has to stick around and continue taking abuse, or they'll never get trained!
Zuzu knows that if she wants gentle play and lots of love, Darby is her gal. But when she's full of pip and vinegar and puppy zoomies, Tressa is the friend she always heads for!
And I just sit back and watch. :)
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Take it, leave it, drop it
Our homework for this week is take it, leave it, and drop it.
All puppies come with the 'take it' app already installed. I don't think it has ever even required updates.
'Take it!' 'Good, take it!'. Works every time.
Leave it. Hmmm- that one has potential and works very well with the 'treat in the hand' upgrade. It does take some effort to install it properly.
Drop it.
WARNING - if your puppy was preloaded with a 'tug-of-war' app, a critical failure could occur if 'drop it' is installed.
This does not always happen, but 'drop it' must be installed very patiently, and the 'alternate toy in hand' upgrade is strongly recommended. Even with the upgrade, the 'drop it' app may have to be reinstalled up to one billion times to be effective.
Good luck with your new iPuppy!
All puppies come with the 'take it' app already installed. I don't think it has ever even required updates.
'Take it!' 'Good, take it!'. Works every time.
Leave it. Hmmm- that one has potential and works very well with the 'treat in the hand' upgrade. It does take some effort to install it properly.
Drop it.
WARNING - if your puppy was preloaded with a 'tug-of-war' app, a critical failure could occur if 'drop it' is installed.
This does not always happen, but 'drop it' must be installed very patiently, and the 'alternate toy in hand' upgrade is strongly recommended. Even with the upgrade, the 'drop it' app may have to be reinstalled up to one billion times to be effective.
Good luck with your new iPuppy!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Meal Time
Tressa and Zuzu
Tressa had a little dog, little dog, little dog.
Tressa had a little dog, whose fur was fluffy so.
And everywhere that Tressa went, Tresssa went, Tressa went,
Everywhere that Tressa went, the dog was sure to go!
Just Add Water
Why wait for the water? We can play now!
Loose Leash Walking
Loose Leash Walking ... loose leash walking ... loosh lease walking
Say that five times fast! Betcha can't. I also bet you'll find getting a puppy to learn how to actually do it is no easier.
Last week was all about loose leash walking. Two or three times a day we would take Zuzu out to practice. By the end of the week, she was doing fairly well, as long as we let her set the pace. (Anything between stopping and jogging is okay.) The only problem with that is she really only has two speeds - meander and trot!
The only really bad day was Wednesday. I'm starting to notice that I never blog when I'm super frustrated. I always wait a few days until I have gotten over it. Next time I vow to write on the bad day itself, so that when I look back in five or ten years, I'll remember there were actual challenges, not just funny times.
Anyway, Wednesday's walk was going perfectly! Well, as perfectly as any walk with a three month old puppy can go. Then we started to head home. There is only one street that I cross that has any real traffic and a light, right next to the big park that I love. We have a great routine. I push the button, ask Zuzu to sit, and I get the walk signal and we cross. Easy peasy.
Only this time, Zuzu wouldn't sit. It was lunchtime and she was 'finished' with the walk and finished with listening. She danced around and managed to get tangled in the leash. As I leaned down to untangle her, she jumped up and grabbed my hair. Now I've had that happen before, so I was ready and got her down, no problem. But, what I didn't realize, was that somehow in this brief mayhem, her leash had actually come uncoupled from her collar. I still have no idea how! As soon as we began to cross, I realized that I had a leash and no dog, with four lanes of traffic stopped around me. Luckily Zuzu had no idea she was free, but when I bent down to reattach her, she started to play again.
At this point I only had 10 more seconds to cross the street. Though I was pretty sure none of the drivers would run us over if we were still in the road, I didn't want to chance it. So, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her across the street, ignoring the little teeth in my hair and ear and neck. When we got to the other side, I put her down, reattaching the leash, and finally got her to sit for a treat and calm down for a second.
That was the last calm moment I had! She spent the rest of the walk trying to eat me, and would not even take a treat! Aargh!
But, patience and consistency, right? Right!
We went out again that evening, and the next morning, etc, and each time got a little better.
She is now recognizing a quick soft tug or 'ah ah' or 'let's go' and she 'gets nowhere without me (or Jim)'. That's only hard when she sees another dog and wants to run and pull towards it to say hi. But, when she pulls, we stop and she gets nowhere. She has missed meeting several dogs as she is still trying to figure that out. It's very hard when the world is so exciting!
One day, every time she saw another dog, she would start to do a little low crawl, like the cat, then she would try to pounce! It never worked and it kind of freaked out a couple other dog owners as they saw the fluffy crouching tiger-dog approach them, so she hasn't done it since that day, but I'll admit that it made me laugh out loud - much to the dismay of the other doggy parents in the park. Really people? My dog isn't touching your dog, and she's not barking or growling, her ears are happy and her tail is wagging, and she's being raised with a cat. I promise, she is not going to eat your dog! I've never seen little old ladies with their Doodles and Cavaliers walk so quickly. Again, I giggle!
So we will continue with the loosh lease walking. Maybe some day I'll even learn to say it!
Say that five times fast! Betcha can't. I also bet you'll find getting a puppy to learn how to actually do it is no easier.
Last week was all about loose leash walking. Two or three times a day we would take Zuzu out to practice. By the end of the week, she was doing fairly well, as long as we let her set the pace. (Anything between stopping and jogging is okay.) The only problem with that is she really only has two speeds - meander and trot!
The only really bad day was Wednesday. I'm starting to notice that I never blog when I'm super frustrated. I always wait a few days until I have gotten over it. Next time I vow to write on the bad day itself, so that when I look back in five or ten years, I'll remember there were actual challenges, not just funny times.
Anyway, Wednesday's walk was going perfectly! Well, as perfectly as any walk with a three month old puppy can go. Then we started to head home. There is only one street that I cross that has any real traffic and a light, right next to the big park that I love. We have a great routine. I push the button, ask Zuzu to sit, and I get the walk signal and we cross. Easy peasy.
Only this time, Zuzu wouldn't sit. It was lunchtime and she was 'finished' with the walk and finished with listening. She danced around and managed to get tangled in the leash. As I leaned down to untangle her, she jumped up and grabbed my hair. Now I've had that happen before, so I was ready and got her down, no problem. But, what I didn't realize, was that somehow in this brief mayhem, her leash had actually come uncoupled from her collar. I still have no idea how! As soon as we began to cross, I realized that I had a leash and no dog, with four lanes of traffic stopped around me. Luckily Zuzu had no idea she was free, but when I bent down to reattach her, she started to play again.
At this point I only had 10 more seconds to cross the street. Though I was pretty sure none of the drivers would run us over if we were still in the road, I didn't want to chance it. So, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her across the street, ignoring the little teeth in my hair and ear and neck. When we got to the other side, I put her down, reattaching the leash, and finally got her to sit for a treat and calm down for a second.
That was the last calm moment I had! She spent the rest of the walk trying to eat me, and would not even take a treat! Aargh!
But, patience and consistency, right? Right!
We went out again that evening, and the next morning, etc, and each time got a little better.
She is now recognizing a quick soft tug or 'ah ah' or 'let's go' and she 'gets nowhere without me (or Jim)'. That's only hard when she sees another dog and wants to run and pull towards it to say hi. But, when she pulls, we stop and she gets nowhere. She has missed meeting several dogs as she is still trying to figure that out. It's very hard when the world is so exciting!
One day, every time she saw another dog, she would start to do a little low crawl, like the cat, then she would try to pounce! It never worked and it kind of freaked out a couple other dog owners as they saw the fluffy crouching tiger-dog approach them, so she hasn't done it since that day, but I'll admit that it made me laugh out loud - much to the dismay of the other doggy parents in the park. Really people? My dog isn't touching your dog, and she's not barking or growling, her ears are happy and her tail is wagging, and she's being raised with a cat. I promise, she is not going to eat your dog! I've never seen little old ladies with their Doodles and Cavaliers walk so quickly. Again, I giggle!
So we will continue with the loosh lease walking. Maybe some day I'll even learn to say it!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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