Debbie Dog

Debbie has been making some great strides lately. When I got back from Michigan I took the dogs over to see my parents. Since it had been quite a while since they had seen them, they could see the noticeable differences that you don’t notice when you see them every day as I do. My Dad seemed to remind Debbie of some person who had previously been frightening to her, because she had previously been terrified of him. She would panic whenever he came close or walked by, even when she was in my arms. She simply had to get away from him. But her trips to Petco and the park where she has positive encounters with new people regularly have reinforced that not all people are mean. She didn’t panic when he walked by or came close on this visit, and even reluctantly let both my Mom and Dad pet her - as long as I was close by that is.

Debbie has also learned to “sit” and is working on “down” too! She just adores laying on my lap and snuggling when I am watching TV, and continues to love “playing”’ with me in the back yard, crouching and darting away for me to chase her, and herding me down the hill when it’s time to come back inside.

She also displays excitement that I’ve come home at the end of my work day too. When I open the door she is sitting right there looking to see who it is. When she realizes it is me, her tail starts wagging immediately, and she begins darting around the house excitedly, trying to entice me to play with her I was telling Barbra the other day when we were at the Adopt-a-Pet days at Petco that I had not heard Debbie bark yet though. Duncan did not bark at me for a couple months after I brought him home either. But when I got home the next day and heard Duncan doing his normal barking when I pull in the driveway, I hear a couple of unfamiliar higher pitched barks mixed in with his. I immediately knew that Little Debbie had found her voice as well! Duncan always stops barking as soon as I open the door and so did Debbie, but I encouraged her saying “I heard you barking” in a playful, positive tone. Shelties are natural barkers, but mill dogs very quickly learn that barking does not get them attention or anything else they may want, and actually will often bring unwanted effects. So it is a joy when they learn that it is ok to bark sometimes!

On another note, Debbie has unfortunately been sliding backwards a little bit with the house training though. When I first got her she was doing very well. I think she only had one accident when I had been gone for a long day. But recently, between being sick and with me traveling she has started having more accidents. I’ve worked to get her more frequent outings, but this doesn’t seem to be helping much. For awhile she was pottying in a couple spots on the living room carpet. I even looked up from watching TV one day to catch her squatting. I immediately say “No!” firmly, and then gently took her outside. I borrowed a friend’s steam vac and got the living room carpet cleaned up (it needed a good shampooing anyway,) and doing so seems to have curbed her from pottying in there. But she will still often potty by the back door (and unfortunately I have carpet in the kitchen as well!) She doesn’t even only do this when it’s been a long time since she’s been out. The other day she and Duncan were out in the back yard together for a few hours as it was a beautiful day to be outside. When I let them back in the house I stepped out onto the patio to pick some things up. When I stepped back inside there was a fresh wet spot right inside the door. She’d had plenty of time to go while she’d been outside!

Debbie likes to have you walk out into the back yard with her before she will go, and I’ve been trying to be vigilant about doing this with her too. But she will often not go at all. When she does, I make sure to make a big fuss about it, telling her “Good potty Debbie!” and then playing with her. Debbie also like to immediately start playing when I walk out into the back yard with her. She’ll do her crouch-and-dart, trying to entice me into chasing her. I’ve tried telling her to go potty and refrain from playing with her until she does, but this does not seem to be helping much either. Sometimes she will play with me for a few minutes and will then stop suddenly to go, but she does not seem to be consistent with this either.

Duncan can tell me when he needs to go out in his own way. He does a little pacing between me and the back door and gives me an intent stare and I know he needs to go out. But with Debbie, she is regularly coming to me for attention. So if she is coming to me and trying to tell me she has to go out, I can’t tell the difference. I heard once that hanging some bells from the door-knob and ringing them each time you take the dogs outside to go potty can train them to ring the bells with their nose when they need to go outside. I told my parents about this a few years ago and they did this with their dogs and it worked nicely. I plan to see if I can find some bells and try this out with both Debbie and Duncan. They’re both very smart dogs and I think it could work with them.

My house is starting to smell now, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to start kenneling Debbie again when I leave the house, which I really do not want to have to do. I’m going to have to do some research to see if I can tell what might be going through that little doggie mind of hers. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome as well!