Yesterday was an "off" day for home school. Somedays, we just can't seem to get along no matter what. I tried to have a heart to heart talk with Zack about his bad attitude towards home school. He pretty much told me that he has difficulty taking instructions from me because I'm his mom and not a stranger (like a teacher at public school would be.) He said he feels like he has to obey teachers at school because they he doesn't know them like he knows me. Well, at least he's man enough to admit the truth, hmmmm?
Josie continues to give us problems. She nips all the time now. I'm not sure how to break her of this problem, and I'm not willing to have a dog who is going to bite my kids. I have no idea what to do. When we got her, I didn't consider the fact that she might not work out. Foolish of me, perhaps. I don't think there is such thing as a Humane society or even a pound here. I think we'll just have to find another home for her, if it turns out that we really are unable to get her to stop nipping. Yesterday she ran up to a stranger to try and play with him. He wanted nothing to do with her and kicked at her. She wasn't hurt, she just rolled over and then got up to try and play again. I'd been trying to catch her the whole time and was finally able to pick her up before she went back for more. As if I don't have enough to worry about with three kids intruding upon peoples lives, now I have a dog who does it too. I'm woman enough to admit when I make a mistake. I made a mistake getting this dog. We just aren't ready for a dog. But now my kids are in love with her and how can I get rid of her without breaking their hearts? This is a mess.
3 comments:
Do not give up. Do some research online. You have to think of Josie as another child. I'm doing some research for you. Here are some links that should help you. Just remember you are Josie's master. You have to teach her what is right and what is wrong. You're going to have to be more strict with her than the kids, obvisously. Everything she does is because she doesn't realize she isn't allowed to do it yet. Sure you might say, "Stop that," but how strongly are you saying that? What are the consequences if she continues doing bad behaviour? Let me know if these links don't show up. I'll figure out how to post them on my blogspot for you.
http://www.sfspca.org/behavior/dog_library/PlayBitinginPuppies.pdf
http://www.sfspca.org/behavior/dog_library/starting-out_dog.pdf
http://www.sfspca.org/behavior/dog_library/index_library.shtml
http://www.doggiesparadise.com/online-training.shtml
http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/library.htm
http://www.mydogtrainer.com/dog-training.php
All I did was google "online dog training" and I got a ton of hits. Don't give in to her puppy antics, but remember if you don't nip it in the bud now she'll get worse. I think you can do this. You can get the boys involved too.
One of the biggest things to get the animals to behave is reward them with food. If she stops nipping at someone when you tell her no, give her a treat and lots of praise and pettings. We even do this with Winni, can you believe that a cat would fall for bribery? She does, and stops what's she's doing. We've even trained Felix to sit and lie down. If he comes after me when I'm eating food I must tell him, in a strong voice, "Felix. Sit." If he sits, he gets a treat. If not, he gets nothing.
This is all stuff that dog trainers use on dogs. If I can do it for the cats you can do it for Josie.
I know, you're absolutely right. I was frustrated when I wrote that, but the truth is that we cannot give up on her. She's too much a part of our family. I've told the boys that we're going to make it one our home school projects to train her. I know we can teach her, it will just take a firm hand, as you say. Thanks so much for the links. I'm going to check them out right now!
I am soooo glad! It's so hard to give up a pet. It's like having another baby. You've had three babies, you can handle this fourth one, although Josie won't be nearly as smart as the boys *lol*. The only good thing to think is that she will want to please you. So get out those doggie treats (do they have doggie treats in China?)
I think it's also a good idea to do a dog unit in homeschool. That way Josie will learn that you are all her masters and not just you. If you ever get a parrot (this is just useless info) you should definitely make sure that everyone in the family hand rears it because parrots are especially susceptible to choosing favorites, and can get quite jealous when that favorite person's time is being used by someone else. See, why can I remember this instead of important things? *lol*
Post a Comment