In the morning it's all bunnies. I'm convinced there are 10,000 bunnies in our neighborhood of 100 homes. And all of them, at 5:30 in the morning, like to dart across the sidewalk in front of Ruby, causing her to lunge forward and nearly take my arm from it's socket. In the afternoon on our walks around the lake, it's duck city. I know most of them are watching nests so I don't want her upsetting them. At the same time her curiosity is fairly adorable. Which leads me to tonight's purchase dilema. Gentle leader? Or choke chain?
I hate that name, choke chain. It sounds so cruel. But I've had much success with one when Abby was a puppy. For Abby, the choker became less about the fear of the yank and subsequent choke, and all about the noise. So that all I had to do was rattle the leash and she would immediately heel right where I wanted her. Sorta like when I trained that worthless cat, whatshername, to stay off the counter by setting mousetraps and throwing them down next to her. I even hung them off the Christmas tree one year. Not set, but the rattle alone would have her running for cover.
Bottom line, I've had success, so i'm tempted. But the choke part still bothers me. I think the line of succession goes something like this:
- Regular collar (which, let's face it, is pretty worthless from a control standpoint).
- Body harness (Ruby is wearing one now).
- Gentle leader.
- Choker.
- Barbed choker (Not sure if that's what it is called, but that's how it probably feels).
- Shock collar.
Gentle leaders weren't around when I had my last puppy so the concept is new to me. I see advantages of it, but wonder if it teaches, or just controls while the dog is harnessed up. And given a a chance, that dog would bolt. Ruby isn't I'll-behaved. She's just crazy puppy energy and programmed to chase anything that moves. Birds, leaves, bunnies, ducks, other dogs, small children, etc.
And I'm no sissy, I actually consider myself relatively strong. On a scale of pale pink being pampered princess to blood red being power tool-weilding diva, I'm pretty darn red. But man that dog can pull. The days of me coming completely off my feet are not far behind if I don't get a handle on her. Or install a handle.
I'm conflicted and will probably end up with both. Because tonight's walk made it abundantly clear that Ruby's ever-increasing size makes it imperative that I gain a new measure of control. For everyone's sake.
In other news, my big baby continues to get bigger and bigger. And her personality becomes more clear. I like what I see. While not always completely well-behaved, she DOES mind. And she is very sensitive. Both Kevin and I scolded her for something yesterday and she immediately dropped to her bed with sad eyes and a big sigh. Sometimes I have to remind myself that she's still a baby. Her size makes it seem that she should know better. But let's face it, she really doesn't.She had a great week last week as the boy was home on spring break. So she got lots of long walks and hardly any time in her kennel. I'm back to home on lunches, trying to level off her food. Still the same amount, but at regular intervals instead of larger amounts morning and night. This, I'm hoping, will eliminate the recurring nighttime wake-up poops. I can't argue with her telling me it's time to go out, but geesh I'd like to sleep all night again.
In other news, Ruby got to spend some quality time sliming, and getting slimed, by cousin Murphy. She was pretty well-behaved, until she decided to leave a gift on Aunt Pam's living room floor. But she felt really bad about it. She traveled well, riding in Sophie's kennel with one of her big fluffy beds. Outside the kennel, she has a hard time keeping steady. After all, her center of gravity is decidedly different than the Bulldog's. So for as long as she will fit in the kennel, that's how she'll travel. She was pretty content there. And Sophie couldn't steal her chewie, so that's a plus.
This is how we play the 'no dogs on the furniture' game now. As long as one foot is lightly resting on the floor, she considers this to be 'off the couch.' Yeah, not hardly.But it IS kind of adorable.
All for now.
GINGER! Worthless cat's name was Ginger.
I'm a firm believer in the Choke chain. With 100+ lb dogs - you need it. You know already you don't choke them, they actually choke themselves if they do what you don't want them to do :). Ours learned quickly to behave just if you put it on them. We used the gentle leader for a while, not only is it annoying to put on, but our dogs didn't pay attention unless it was "on" - and people around us thought it was a MUZZLE!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen Gemini was a pup we did have to use that 'barbed' one only because they have SOOO much fur and she wasn't phased by the choke, but she eventually got the concept and we moved to the choke. Ruby doesn't have nearly the fur ;). It really only took a couple months' of "lessons" before it was just the 'noise' phenom. -- good luck!
I concur with Laura and I am very impressed with your knowledge of both types of collars. Laura did a great deal of research like you and has done a wonderful job training our pups. She's also done a great job with training me to be consistent with her training which is as important. ;) Consistency is key! Keep up the great work with Ruby and this blog. I've enjoyed it immensely.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck!
John
I'm an exceptionally impressive person. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad my instincts were right. You two are my kind of dog people so I Trust your advice. To have two big dogs like you do who are so well-behaved says a lot. I will cruise past the gentle leaders and pick up a choker.
I need help understanding when Ruby is trying to tell me she needs to go out. . Thinking of installing a bell on the back door that she can ring. I know someone for whom that worked. And I certainly think she's smart enough to figure It out.