Submissive peeing update

I have to say that I am now a true believer in the "therapy" I've used with Shiloh for her submissive pee issue. Over the summer, since we weren't walking with the boys to the bus each morning and doing our little training on the return, we had a bit of a slip. I think there were two or three times in August that she had an incident. Now, in the month since school started, I've been doing the training again and have had more time to pay a little special attention to her daily and we've had no more incidents.

Pet therapy! LOL Who would have thought?

A new cousin dog

My brother-in-law and his family just got a new Golden Retriever puppy named Chase. I am almost dreading going to meet Chase as I know that this will lead to more puppy pleas at our house. We are working on a way to fence in more of our yard, currently, but that "excuse" doesn't hold much water around these parts. Maybe once school starts I'll feel up to chasing after a puppy, but summer vacations is kinda kicking my butt right now!

Homemade dog treats

Here's an easy recipe!!

http://www.vocalpoint.com/surprises.html

"Home Made Dog Treats Category: Around the House
Tired of the expense of dog biscuits, but still want to treat your "babies"? I make a variety of drop biscuits using flour, meat broth of some kind, a little corn meal, some seasoning (onion and garlic powder), an egg and enough milk to make it "droppable" onto a greased cookie sheet. Sometimes I use ketchup and powdered parmesan- those are favorites! I drop them by spoonful, not too big, and bake them at about 300 degrees until crunchy (turning them over helps, and then leave them in the oven after you turn it off for additional crunch.) They turn out differently every time, but my dogs go crazy when they hear the oven timer go off!
By Lee Ann from SC"

Update on our "issue"

Shiloh has not had a submissive urination problem since my last update! I am so pleased with her progress. The extra 15 minutes a day of working with her has really paid off. I am hoping that between her aging and the continued effort on my part, this can really be a thing of the past.

We bought her a new bed to celebrate!

My furry shadow

I got caught up in one of those security system commercials the other night. The one with the lady on the treadmill with her earphones on when the bad guys are looking in the window and then break in the front door. *shudder* I am easily freaked out at the thought of somebody being out in the dark looking in the windows. That's just creepy. I told my husband maybe we should look at a security system. He kindly informed me that if a crook was "casing the joint" they just might notice the 90 plus pound German Shepherd that follows me where ever I go. I tilted my head to one side and asked, "Does she really follow me everywhere?" He looked incredulous as he simply answered, "Yes!"

Since that conversation, I started paying attention and sure enough, Shiloh might as well be my furry little (well big) shadow. When given the choice, she keeps me within eyesight or at the very least, within earshot. This includes when I head to our home gym to work out...with my earphones on. Take that potential robbers!!

Patience of a saint

My two year old has been relentless in naming the parts on Shiloh's head lately. Her litany of “eyes eyes eyes, nose, nose, nose, ears, ears, ears” is accompanied by poking little fingers into the appropriate parts. Shiloh is amazingly patient with these episodes, but will get up and move away when they continue past about 7 minutes. I usually move after about 3 minutes, so I think that is pretty good!

Can dogs be dysfunctional?

We were playing outside in the yard (all three kids, the dog and I) when the neighbor zoo moved outside. The three-legged dog was on a leash while the other two charged the fence, barking all the while. The owners will stand there and call to the dogs, who ignore them. There is no follow through, there are no real rules nor consequences. Maybe dysfuction CAN spread to canines...

The puppy is still enthusiastic about trying to play with the kids. It is hard to tell a 2 year old not to play with the puppy at the fence. Shiloh WAS trying to separate the two by going between the 2 y.o. and the fence and giving a little growl towards the pup as if to say, "back off of MY baby!" Evidently the puppy was unimpressed. I was playing fetch with Shiloh to keep her busy. This always leads to huge barking from next door. The puppy came to the front to investigate. I had Shiloh on a sit/stay when all of a sudden, that puppy dropped down on its belly and wriggled right under the fence at a low place in the grass. OMG!!! I grabbed Shiloh by the neck and told her to stay there. She looked as shocked as me to see this interloper in her yard, but she didn't try to get to the puppy. The kids and my husband escorted the puppy to the gate and out to the teen boy who is now also living next door. He told us he was "sorry about that." I told him I was just worried about how Shiloh might react if we are not right there. No response.

In a couple weeks, that puppy will be too big to repeat that little trick, but until then, I'll keep my fingers crossed.