Cindy! Thank you my friend. You came through with flying colors. Thanks for replying so everyone can benefit from what you're doing with the rescue dogs. I'm sure you read a lot more than what we do.
I guess I'm following in your footsteps in the dog training books. Hubbie is opening mail and says "Here's another book for you!" I just can't seem to get enough info to help.
I agree with everything you wrote. We've been lucky so far and haven't had any blood drawn yet.
The only thing that I am doing different is I still have Missy "tethered" right beside me on a 12" leather leash. The reason for this being I don't want her to have the "run" of the house quite yet as she's only 6 months old. I don't feel like I can trust her to NOT go potty in the house. She's doing beautifully on the tether though - no accidents in 2 months.
I think the tethering of Missy helps to protect Muffie a little bit also. That way MUFFIE can decide WHEN she's ready to play with Missy. Muffie has arthritis in her legs and also has cataracts on both eyes. Missy was constantly waking Muffie up to play ALL the time. That made Muffie MAD.
There's nothing worse than being woke up abruptly - hard to be in a good mood even for us!
With only the 2 dogs, we try not to give loving and affection to one in front of the other. We wait till one's gone out to go potty or in the other room with hubbie.
The main times we give treats are while we're practicing training. We also put them in the crates with special treats when we leave the house.
Thanks Cindy, for the great post. I'm sure everyone will realize that all that is ONLY your opinion. I don't want anyone to go wild on you.
We appreciate your input. I know there are many that will read that post more than once! |