Oh, the shame...

Dog Shaming

As a dog trainer and someone who did rescue (before kids) I have seen all sorts of dogs with all sorts so issues and/or problems. When the web site dogshaming.com first went up I laughed and did the "Ooo" face. And I did my biggest mistake by telling my hubby that we are so lucky that we have a dog that would not do something that would land her on this site. And if you know anything about the laws of the universe, you know that saying this out loud is the kiss of death. Don't get me wrong I know my dog is not perfect, nor were any of my previous dogs. In fact there are a few things that my Rottie, Connor did that would have landed him on that site. For example, because I know you are dying to know, he loved to eat my husbands socks. We would try ("try not, do or do not, there is no try") to make sure that socks were put away, but he always seem to get to them. We were "lucky" enough that he never had to go to the vet because of it, he would be nice enough to "deposit" them in the dog run; yes, gross! I would have to say that some of the Christmas shaming pictures were wonderful. In one, I believe a bull dog ate a baby Jesus out of as nativity scene; naughty list for sure. The picture above is of Sparkle and her debut on Dog Shaming. As responsible dog owners we do not allow a puppy to free roam in our house; my last Dalmatian was five before that happened. So we have a crate that she sleeps in at night; left over from the Rotties, so you know it's big enough. And if we are going to be gone during the day, we have a "run". There's an outdoor area about 12ft x 20ft with a dog door into the third stall, which she has a third of that is sectioned off for her with an "X-pen". I always make sure that she has toys and/or a frozen raw bone of chew on. I'm guessing she has decided that this is not enough to occupy her time. We thought these were chew holes, but on further examination we believe that they are actually "dig" holes. I know what your thinking, so she dug at the walls in the garage. Well, this summer we finished the garage. We had someone come in and professionally mud and sand. Then my husband and I sent two weekends painting. All clean and sparkly... Then came Sparkle and her dig holes. It's a good thing we love animals, because I think for a minute there we debated about a trying to knock her spots off (I am joking of course, those that know me; encluding her breeder, know this would NEVER happen). So know Miss Sparkle will not have "free time" in the run. Sadly those privileges have been revoked for a while. She will have to be in her crate when not traveling with me. My hubby did the first coat of mud yesterday, he will then sand, mud and sand again; then it will be my turn to paint. I know what you are thinking; just wait until she grows out of it to repair. Well it's also a visual thing. Dogs will go back to the destruction and make more if they see it there. So we are removing the reinforcement that its ok the dig there, by removing the visual cue.  

Ok, now the dog trainer in me must speak! It is not ok, or cute that your little dog growls and/or shows his/her teeth to you. It is not ok for your dog to "hump" kids or your house guests. These are all signs of dominance issues; meaning that your dog thinks (s)he out ranks you, your guests or kids. This in NOT ok and is especially NOT funny. If your dog does these things, especially to kids, please fix it, or get help to fix it. Ok, trainer side done.

Sorry for the lack of blog over the holidays, but it was the holidays and my life was super crazy.