Jessie worked on her sit for greetings today. Of course, she was a star. She looked at me like, "Yeah, I've got this down. Why are you making me do this?" Actually, she was really happy to comply. She's happy to do anything for a nice little rub on the side, a smile and a "good girl!" Her automatic sits for things are quite as important as Scout's (who thinks she may be Queen of Everything) but it's still good practice. And it's very nice if you don't get the surprise jump on the random guest.
Jessie definitely has different needs and interests than Scout too. She prefers quiet time to herself or with people or to explore around in an environment. Finding time to let Jessie explore the world in her slower, more thoughtful way is just as important as keeping Scout busy.
Scout tends to be a little naughty if she doesn't have something constructive to do. This is another important reason she shouldn't have free reign of the house yet. Any time she's allowed to do something naughty, it reinforces that behavior. Interrupting her when she's thinking about doing something naughty is ideal (rather than reacting after she's done something). But, it's not enough to just keep telling her to stop doing something.
Redirecting her to an appropriate activity and praising her when she is behaving nicely is really, really important. She needs to know what behavior you really like and she needs to be rewarded for it so she will be more likely to repeat it. It's also more about teaching and less about forcing a dog to comply.
Being a leader doesn't mean that you never get to snuggle with your dog. But it does mean setting limits and expectations. Part of Scout's naughty behavior of stealing things happens when she's on the furniture and closer to table tops. It might be better if she's not allowed up on the furniture...at least not without an invitation. You can set rules so that she needs to sit and "ask" to come up on the couch and only be allowed up when you give the ok. This takes some consistency (and monitoring) but that way you still get snuggle time on the couch only now you are there to make sure she's not using the sofa cushions as a chew toy.
Being a leader means that she doesn't get to call the shots. Demanding behavior like pawing at the door needs to be ignored. When she behaves nicely and "asks" to go out by sitting, she can go out if it's appropriate. It seems strict but she will be so much happier when she knows it's not her responsibility to take care of everything. Like the front door...
It's not her responsibility to alert or protect the front door. You can handle anything at the front door. She's done really well in her practice sessions but we got caught off guard today when we heard the doorbell on the TV again. She started barking and I very calmly said "ah ah ah." I don't want to raise my voice or seem tense at all. I don't want her to get the idea that "Oh great, now Mom's barking too...it must be really bad." I give her a chance to pull herself together (I can also throw in a "Scout" or a "Scout come" to get her attention). When she is quiet and focused on me, I can reward her for that eye contact (and silence). If she didn't quiet down, I would put her in a quick time-out. But, in this situation, she did quiet down so I was able to cue her to go to her bed. At that point, I could toss treats on her bed as I went to the door and opened it. Guess what? She's doing MUCH better with her distractions (thanks, Chase, for being a distraction in this practice session). And, note above, we are working on generalizing her "Go to your Bed" cue to other beds.
We're getting ready for our grooming session on Monday. Scout's nails are pretty long and she's not super comfortable with me handling her feet. Today's session just involved getting use to the nail clippers in the same area where we were and a little bit of handling her feet.
I want her to feel comfortable with the nail clippers so I don't mind that she's picked them up and wants to play with them. That's a good thing (as long as she doesn't chew them). Again, no forcing, but teaching and helping her to be more comfortable with the process.
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