Monday January 16

[Shirlv]

Morning All, the sun is shining. Still living the ho hum life. Beth, I think Ty was the winner too. Spent yesterday watching Shawn James build a real log cabin in the Canadian wilderness. Scenery was so beautiful I wanted to build my own cabin. Several household chores, laundry, trash, etc. Dinner will be soup from the freezer and will make a batch of two ingredient biscuits with bacon and apples. Be safe.

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning. Chilly and foggy out 35° will warm up to 47° ha ha I am not going anywhere today, will just stay home. When it warms up a bit I will wash a couple more windows inside. Got all my blinds dusted and will run the vacuum on the other half of the house this morning.

Perused a few low calorie casserole dishes yesterday so think I will choose one to make today. I have now gained 22lbs back from the almost 50 I lost, so that is perfect. Means I lost 25 that I wanted to lose LOL not the way I lost it but if I can just maintain this weight now I will be happy.

[Acadianmom]

Shirl, I keep trying different biscuit recipes and haven't found one I really like yet. I wish I could make some like the local deli. You can pick up biscuits, eggs, bacon or sausage but I'm seldom in town that early. Their biscuits look like they are baked in two layers. I haven't tried doing that yet. Like I need biscuits anyway.

Is anyone having problems with Facebook? If I try to scroll it just keeps rolling and won't stop or it jumps around. It just started that yesterday when I got home.

I got an appointment to get my step fixed on the 26th. The last time I passed the RV shop they didn't have that many RV's there. Glad it's not a 2 month wait.

I haven't looked to see what the weather predictions are for the middle of February. Hope it's not as cold as Friday and Saturday was. It's back up to 70 again but no sun. I don't think it's suppose to rain until Wednesday.

I need to get dressed and get moving.

Martha

[SoCalGalcas]

Good Morning, I haven’t posted for a few days. Hazel and I are getting along fine. I wish I knew what to do about her barking at dogs we meet on the street. She acts like she will kill them. Most of the time the other dogs just look at her. Yesterday a Bernese Mt dog pulled on his leash to respond to her! What I have been doing is stopping the cart and getting her up on it and holding her collar and saying soothing words until the other dog is past. Her being a Chihuahua I expect is part of the problem. Any suggestions out there? Tina?
We have had several nice rain showers the past couple of days. Nothing like Northern CA.
Other than that, nothing new going on in my life.
Lyn

[chalet05]

Quick hello from Acapulco! Sunny!

[Cudedog]

Good Morning, I haven’t posted for a few days. Hazel and I are getting along fine. I wish I knew what to do about her barking at dogs we meet on the street. She acts like she will kill them. Most of the time the other dogs just look at her. Yesterday a Bernese Mt dog pulled on his leash to respond to her! What I have been doing is stopping the cart and getting her up on it and holding her collar and saying soothing words until the other dog is past. Her being a Chihuahua I expect is part of the problem. Any suggestions out there? Tina?
Lyn

Well, I'm not Tina, but I will jump in here. If you pick her up and put her on your cart, or maybe even in your lap (I'm assuming that your cart is a mobility device that you use, but I'm not sure) all the while saying soothing words, you are rewarding, and thus reinforcing, the barking behavior.

So long as a specific behavior (barking at other dogs) results in a pleasant reward (you picking her up and saying pleasant, soothing words) the behavior will not improve, and will likely get worse.

In other words, she has discovered that when she barks at other dogs, something nice happens.

Since you are mobility impaired, this might be a difficult thing to deal with. I would suggest a training collar (I assume that she is on a leash when you both are out and about - a six-foot leather leash is best, easy to grip and long enough to give you some maneuvering room), when the unwanted behavior occurs, give a sharp "NO!" (only say it once) followed by a quick correction and immediately turn around and go the other way - whether she agrees to turn around or not.

Another thing you might try is a spray bottle with water. When the behavior occurs, give a quick correction together with a strong spritz of water (do NOT pick her up and soothe her). After the spritz, continue on as though nothing has happened - whether she wishes to "continue on" or not.

I have trained dogs in the past, many years ago I trained my own American Pit Bull Terrier to work with hand signals, totally off leash. At the time, there was a local man who trained police dogs for a living, and he also trained companion dogs for people in the area. I trained with him (he did not train my dog for me) and learned quite a lot from him.

When my Big Joe (a 45-pound Staffordshire Bull Terrier) came to me at almost three years old, he had been a kennel dog. On our first few walks around my neighborhood, I soon discovered he had a "thing" for cats (and my neighborhood was awash in feral cats, and still is). Whenever he would see a cat, he would instantly, and vigorously, give chase. The first time this happened it surprised me a bit (although it should not have done) and I was dragged along behind this bounding 45-pound dog straining at the end of my leash, trying to get him stopped.

After that, I used the training technique called "about-turn" (this may sound harsh, but it is not). What I did first was to do a little bit of teaching him to walk on heel in my largish back yard before we ventured out again. Once he had the concept (Joe is a very smart dog, he learned the rudimentary "heel" command in less than a day) we ventured out, with me aware that a cat could appear at any moment, and Joe would try to give chase.

What I would do is hold him on a fairly short (but loose) leash, holding most of the six-foot leash in my hand as slack. As soon as he began to bound after a cat, I would release the slack in the leash (holding firmly to the loop in the end of the leash) and run in the opposite direction as fast as I could. Without saying a word, nor did I look back.

Of course, what would happen when Joe reached the end of the leash (as I was running in the opposite direction) is that he would lose his footing (and forget all about the cat). As he scrambled to regain his feet, I would just keep going, still saying nothing.

This taught him two things: 1., that I was in charge and 2., that he needed to pay attention to me - at all times - (instead of local distractions, like cats) if he wanted to stay on his feet.

I think I needed to do this maybe twice. This was several years ago. To this very day I can walk Joe by a cat that might be sitting in someone's front yard, only feet away, and he will not give the cat a second glance.

I realize that this kind of maneuver might not be possible for someone with mobility issues, because having a cart and a boisterous dog on the end of a leash to deal with at the same time is problematical.

But the concept is the same. Don't - ever - reward bad behavior.

Anne

[JudyJB]

Ditto to everything Anne said about training dogs not to bark. You can also teach her to sit on command and when she barks make her sit and look at you. Use a stern voice for the sit command and do not smile or reward her with praise until she sits and looks at you. And even then, the praise should stop if she gets up or tries to jump around or anything but give you, and not the other dog, her undivided attention.

You can also put her in a sit and stay position if you see other dogs coming. Make sure she faces you and not the oncoming potential distraction. As Anne pointed out, you want her focusing on you because you are the boss.

I had two dogs way back when that I took to obedience school and the result were very well-behaved dogs. I even taught the last one not to go into the street in front of our house, even if her toy rolled there. She would wait at the curb until someone got it for her. (Her behavior was not always perfect because my kids were young then and did not follow the rules!) Your city or county recreation department will probably have classes very cheaply. Being in a class with 20+ other dogs will also help her learn not to react to every dog she sees.

A bit windy today driving, but will get to Parker late this afternoon after a stop at a Walmart.

[cnq50b]

Martha, I've been having the same problem with FB the last couple of days. I just tried it again & it seems it is still doing it when I use Safari, but not when I pull it up in Chrome. It drove me crazy the other day.

Anne, yes, the VAT is what I was thinking of. It makes sending things from here to France crazy expensive. I'm on a couple of FB pages concerning Americans or Expats in France & some people get caught unaware when a family member sends them some inexpensive item & they have to pay VAT in order to get it. Glad to hear yours got delivered.

The sun is out & I'm hoping the rain is past. Had to walk Sadie in the parking lot since it was the surest way to avoid flooded sidewalks. Found a little area with grass by a fireplug that she could use to do her business.

Lynn, I just expect little dogs to bark at Sadie. Within the complex, everyone is pretty conscientious about avoiding dogs who we know have problems with others, but that, of course, is next to impossible when in public areas.

Anne, I liked your strategy on getting a dog to stop giving chase - Sadie would love to make friends with squirrels. I typically have a good handle on her, but once in a while she surprises me. Usually a sharp 'NO' & firm hold on the leash stops her quickly. Her one really bad habit is eating stuff off the ground. Are there any tricks you know to help stop that - without putting a muzzle on her. She's scary enough looking without adding a muzzle, but I'm not always fast enough to get it away from her before she's swallowed it. Sometimes that leads to tummy aches & other unpleasant situations.

Well, I'd better go & get something done.
Take care,
Catherine

[monik7]

I’ll tell you what worked wonders for me to train my dog Abby from barking at other dogs. I have to go back awhile to when I was still traveling about with my two dogs in my RV. We were in a campground in Bakersfield and while walking the dogs inside the park one morning, a dog ran out from an RV and bit Bindi (maltipoo) on her stomach. It wasn’t a serious bite, but I was furious and let the woman who owned the dog know it.

Because of that incident, I bought a gizmo that’s a combination flashlight (great for late night walks), zapper that won’t hurt an animal but scares them, and very irritating loud clicking noise when the zapper is activated with the push of a button. It’s called a Vipertek, is rechargeable, and I bought it on Amazon. Amazon calls it a stun gun, but I think that exaggerates what it does.

All this leads up to your question Lyn. After using the Vipertek on a couple occasions, I realized that Abby HATES the loud clicking sound the Vipertek makes when it’s activated. Abby had always been a problem barking at other dogs when we walked. When I realized she hated the clicking sound, I started carrying the Vipertek regularly when we walked. It only took activating it once to make her stop barking. I didn’t zap her with it, just made it make the irritating noise. After that, I just showed it to her (did not activate it) when we got near other dogs. Just seeing it made her ears flatten down. You could tell she didn’t want to hear it. From that first activation on she has never barked at other dogs again.



Good luck Lyn.

Sandi

[BirdbyBird]

Lyn, it appears that you have already gotten a basket full of good suggestions. I have to admit that my knowledge of many of the small dogs is limited to what I see in campgrounds and the public obedience classes I used to teach. Many are/were poorly trained or actually reinforced for their bad reactions. Small dogs have the disadvantage that many of their owners have never taken the responsibility of socializing them and some even go to the extent of thinking it is a neat things because they think it means the little dogs worship them and them alone. Take what Anne said about not reinforcing her obnoxious barking and combine it with Judy's recommendation of teaching her some basic obedience commands. (A dog is never too cute or too small to be a responsible citizen.) Teach an alternative behavior that you can reinforce and practice it. Teaching obedience strengthens the bond between you and the dog. Helps them learn who is in charge. Dogs are pack animals and expect someone to be in charge. Most dogs hate a vacuum that is created when their hooman doesn't take the role. Well, okay, some dogs are born more Alpha in temperament and love it and become rulers of their hoomans and their world and that can create several unpleasant outcomes. Other dogs that really don't want to be Alpha or in charge can experience increased fear and anxiety because they don't know what is expected or if their pack leader will keep them safe. So train for the behaviors you want to see. Try your best not to reinforce the negative behaviors you don't want. Provide multiple opportunities for the dog to make "good" choices throughout the day...even inside the house. If they do make a bad choice, don't worry about being a meanie. Especially if you have built in that foundations for rewarding them for good decisions. They will learn as several have mentioned that good choices bring good things and poor choice can be uncomfortable and not as much fun. A real meanie is someone who doesn't try to provide their dog with the manners and the confidence to be comfortable out in the world. The better behaved a dog is the more freedom they have to be. The click of the flash light/zapper, reminds me of how dogs with bark collars hearn not to bark when they hear the click or even the smallest vibration..... One thing is for sure there are multiple tools in the training box that can be used. The most important part is matching them to you and to your dog. Very few techniques are cruel or evil in and of themselves if they are used responsibly with positive reinforcement of desired behaviors being the strongest and best. PS: And always remember that intermittent reinforcement is the strongest...so be consistent and be careful what and how you intervene and react to behaviors..... We train them or they train us.....

[Redetotry]

Tina said.... We train them or they train us.....Sooo true and I confess after years of training dogs I have now been trained by a 14 pound of fluff. In my defense we got her a year ago in December when Covid was really bad and socialization just didn't happen. That and the fact that I had to keep her separated from the other dogs (Toby wanted to kill her) especially as she only weighed 2.5 pounds when we got her. We finally were able to start letting them be together about 3 months ago so she has a lot of catching up to do on just what I all basic house rules.
Sandi I am going to order a Vibertek, my dogs are bad about barking at the door and at the deer in the back yard.

[Bethers]

I had one of those devices and actually used it to zap a dog that ran out in attack mode on Peaches. But, yes, it can be used as part of training also. Lyn, lots of excellent advice. First and foremost, praise at the right times only. One thing I have done in the past if my dog was not immediately responding to me instead of what is causing the barking it pulling, etc is forcefully get attention on me and say sit like I mean it, then provide a small treat. That's praising the behavior I want.

I had to put Ty back in his cowboy outfit for a minute today because the man who took pictures came by and said none he took of Ty came out. So Ty posed quickly.

I washed all my throws and some other things today. Food grocery pickup. Noticed I didn't get the right discount on a couple items on the final receipt emailed. It was less than $2, but it's the principle. At the bottom of the receipt was an email address or phone number. I emailed asking why my discount changed. Within 15 minutes I received two emails. One apologizing telling me the error is fixed and I'd be receiving a credit. Within a minute I had the 2nd email with my credit. I love HEB.

It was still quite windy today so I cut our walk short this morning. I did wall longer this afternoon, but won't have gotten as many steps as I'd like today. Tomorrow morning I have a video board meeting for my park in Arizona and Thursday morning we have a park wide meeting here, so i hate not getting a good morning walk in on days without other things in the way.

Martha, I'll be going to Mexico this week or next so will be in touch to make sure I get exactly what you want.

[snowball]

biscuits must have been on a lot of our minds today... we had biscuits and gravy tonight my nephew and his family came over it was a choice of stew or sausage gravy... I ought to go and get another roll of sausage as it was on sale... I think the reason I only bought 1 was there was only one tube.. of regular could have gotten sage flavored but... and for a change my biscuits turned out really good not sure what I did different... perhaps making a full batch was what I needed to but it makes a lot so normally cut it in half... and we ate them like we hadn't had any for years... however I am curious Shirl what is 2 ingredient biscuits?
Martha how is your son doing? and glad you can get your step fixed quickly..
normally by now I have finished all that I do on the computer at night not tonight late start I guess
I didn't do much today but lazed around went through mom's bills to make sure that they were all paid... even remembered to give them to nephew so they could drop them off at the post office as well as the drop box for the utility and they will go get the tags for the car... tomorrow I have a pedy I am in so bad need of one...
we kept a group chat going (my kids, and myself) last night dd#3 wanted to know what the secret chili mix her dad liked so dd#1 said I have one at home but it will be later I happen to have one so sent a picture of it.. today son posted a picture of the chili he made...
it sounds like Lyn you got lots of good advice
going to go and play a quick game then to my room
sheila

[JudyJB]

Very good points from Tina that dogs are pack animals and most really WANT you to be a leader. A happy and well-trained dog will look at you for “advice” in a situation! Really. And being able to get a dog to sit and stay on command is a very important safety measure if they get away from you or get into a dangerous situation.