I dare say that I have great dogs. Zinny and Boone just make me light up when I come home from work. They wag their tails, they dart anxiously towards the door when I open it, they give me a few licks before they run off outside to chase squirrels and go potty.
Then, as quickly as it came, it passes. Zinny growls at Boone for laying too close to her on the couch, on the floor, on the dog beds. Boone bites off Zinny's tags from her collar and chews on them. Every 30 minutes they jump up and dart to the back door, expecting to be let out, just to turn right around and bark at the back door to be let in. Boone has the stinkiest bottom of any dog I know. Zinny has got to be the brattiest dog I know.
So, I have decided not to just watch Cesar and his training, but I am trying to put some of it into practice. I am now taking the dogs on extended walks every afternoon when I get home from work. I am rewarding them for good behavior and ignoring them when they act bad to get my attention. I am trying to treat them more like my dogs in my pack and less like my little munchkins.
How is it all going? Well, I am the first to admit I have no patience. So, I am sure they are getting just as frustrated with me as I am with them. But, I did teach Boone how to sit. Both Zinny and Boone know they have to sit before coming into the house or going outside. Now, whether or not they actually do sit, depends on how long they have been "cooped up" on the back porch. Walks are getting progressively "better", but we are a long ways away from any big steps. At the end of the day, the dogs are happy, plumpy and tired. So I guess we are doing something right. Now if I could just get Jon to put the toilet seat down and put the dishes up!
