Amber goes right to a basket I have in the office to chew on the edge, so we got her this new rope. She LIKES it, but still goes back to try to chew on the basket after playing with the rope awhile – with or without a person on the other end.
Amber was regularly spilling the ‘no-spill’ water bowl we got her, so we bought a small metal one with a rubber edge. She immediately chewed off the rubber edge, and then dumps the dish before we even leave the porch! I don’t want her to be without water, so we found another one at the co-op today. It’s the same design – metal with sloping sides and a rubber edge – but it’s LARGE. My husband took it out to the porch and filled it up. He said she hadn’t dumped it by the time he came in again….
Amber is pretty good on the retractable leash, walking pretty well with us now. She is no longer afraid going up and down steps. The problem comes when she sees something she really wants, like one of the cats, our dog, Molly, a dragonfly, a clump of dirt she found yesterday….. and pulls so hard I’m afraid she’ll pull me off the steps or make one of us fall. We ordered a new retractable ‘no-pull’ leash from Chewy.com and it was delivered today. It attaches to her harness, then has a strap that goes around her tummy. When she pulls, it tightens up and squeezes her belly. We tried it today, and it SEEMS to work. She pulled, it squeezed, and she stopped and sat down. We’ll keep working with this and see how it goes.
We’ve been trying to encourage her to take care of business when we walk her. We’ve gotten it across because she LOVES treats. We say, “Hurry Up!” and she pees. She gets a “Good Girl!” and a treat. This works like a charm, with the complication that she’s a smart dog. She now thinks she should get a treat for each pee, and so pees about 4 times while we’re out. We only give her a treat for the first one, so she’s a bit frustrated, looking at us and our pockets, not believing she shouldn’t get another treat. She finally takes care of the rest of her business and gets another treat – but we have to watch her because she cheats! She ACTS like she’s taking care of business, but doesn’t….
She thinks we’re ‘pretty nice,’ but VERY slow to catch on.
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