Sweet Progress

Over the past month, I've had little time to write and for this I do sincerely apologise.  The truth is that I have little to write about.  Caesar has been remarkably well behaved and sometimes I forget to celebrate that enough.  Sometimes I need to remind myself of just how bad things could be 26 months ago when I brought home a jumpy, mouthy, noisy staffy who would just about scare anyone let alone the people who had signed a form committing themselves to owning him.

He's curled up by me on the sofa right now and I feel as if he's always been there.  I don't have to worry about what he's doing because he's usually with me.  He knows where he stands when it comes to my lunch and dinner, even, occasionally, when it's left unattended.  And, by unattended, I mean more that 1m away from me - if it's in a room alone, it's anyone's!

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough I've experienced recently happened a few weekends ago on the same beach which we walked Caesar on in his early days.  The beach where, after being yelled at by a man with two handsome golden retrievers, we avoided for a good few months.  I cringe when I recall the noise that Caesar was making that day; the screeching, the wriggling, the howling as the two yellow dogs sniffed and nudged him.  "Get your dog under control," the man yelled at me from far down the beach.  I remember holding back tears as I tried to yell back an explanation.  For some reason I felt apologetic.  Apologetic for trying to walk this monster dog.

Naughty or misguided?

Back in the early days, Caesar couldn't walk within a few metres of a dog without causing a ruckus that was likely to make even the bravest of people think twice about walking past him.  People would cross the road to avoid us and I would return from most walks feeling exhausted and tearful.  Walking was not a pleasure; it was a trial.  Soon, my parents began to decline beach and forest walks and, largely, I walked alone.

"She wants me to bring Caesar," I chortled as I told Damien about the sponsored walk.  "Caesar!" I repeated, for dramatic effect.  Chris, our dog trainer, has enormous faith in Caesar and has done for a great deal longer than I have.  On our first training session, she pointed out that he was intelligent and willing to learn.  I pointed out that he was noisy and kept looking like he was going to bite people.

I lured myself to the beach that Sunday morning by convincing myself that, should Caesar maul any dogs, I would return later, alone, and do the sponsored walk with Caesar.  I had kept myself awake that night wondering what the outcome of the walk would be.  Wondering if I could trust Caesar.  I deliberated over putting his Flexi lead in the bag and then decided that it might be useful to have if we did the walk alone or held back from the other dogs.

Did I hear you say 'beach'?

Standing by the graveyard wall, looking down onto the beach, I did wonder whether it would be worth setting off alone.  However, Caesar seemed surprisingly quiet and I felt a little reassured by his almost-silence.  By the time we'd walked onto the sand it had become clear that, to some extent, the walk was not going to be easy.  Twenty off-lead dogs darted around on the sand; chasing, playing, barking and having a whale of a time.  Caesar attempted to do the same on the end of his 1m lead.  It didn't quite work.



However, after around half an hour, it began to dawn on the ginger mongrel that he wasn't going to be let off his lead.  And, after this realisation set in, he began to relax into the walk.  I won't say he walked noiselessly but he did calm down considerably and by half way through, he was running around on his Flexi lead.  I have had to become a pro at Flexi lead management as Caesar can run quite fast so needs a quick hand to stop him ploughing into people.  He didn't get close enough to many dogs but he did have a little play with a lurcher who outran him by miles as they sprinted along the beach.

Fun on the beach

The walk back went much the same and, as we wandered, I looked at Caesar sprinting back and forth and felt a little tug in my heart.  A sort of proud mother moment.  I get them every so often.  A moment where I looked down at him and wondered where that awful, naughty dog that I adopted had gone.  I think I'll keep this photo forever; the moment when I realised how far we'd come...

Caesar and I (far left) on the Sport Relief Sponsored walk

Shooting Superman

Most dog owners acknowledge that a good recall, sit and stay is enough obedience to get them through.  Occasionally you can tag other commands onto that list such as 'go to bed' or 'go to the toilet' but largely the list of necessary commands is fairly small.  And, when speaking to a friend recently about her dog's training, she told me; "she comes back when I ask, she sits when I ask and she stays, I don't really need her to do anything else..."  This is true; if your dog does everything you need it to do, then why push it for more?

A different friend once told me that "with all of the ifs in the world, we could put Paris in a bottle..." But, my problem is that my brain is iffy.  By this, of course, I mean that it likes to ask the question 'what if...?'  This doesn't always serve me well as it often leads me to panic about things that might happen....but often don't anyway.  However, it is also the part of my brain that leads me to try new things; like sewing which can then lead to me getting hair brained ideas about quitting my day job to sew forever!

Anyway, the point I was getting at there is that I like to see how far I can push Caesar - if he can do that, then can he do this?  This has led me to discover some excellent tricks.  Now, I'm a total training novice - I've never had, nor trained, a dog before so these are not expert tips.  However, I thought it might be fun to explain how I taught two of my favourite tricks; "BANG" and "Superman".

BANG!

Link for those who can't watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBzN8R4rSgM

If on carpet, he can do a really convincing fall!

How to teach it:

1.  Make sure your "down" is great - do this by holding a treat to the floor - don't push your dog down.

2.  When the dog is in the down position, make a fist with the treat inside and gently guide the dog into a roll.  I used my other hand to support a little - again never force your dog into a roll - just guide by holding them gently as they move into position.

3.  Increase that to a roll --> stay - this is the hard part.  I did it by holding the treat in my hand and letting Caesar lick my fist until he had stayed long enough.

4.  This is the first command that you need to use.  Say "Bang!" and then using hand signals and a treat: down, roll, stay.

5.  Continue this until your dog automatically knows "bang" means down, roll, stay.

6.  I found that Caesar needed a few sessions to get all of this and, as he's the kind of dog that is OBSESSED by food then he quickly figured if he fell on his back from any position he would still get the treat which is why, when in a carpeted room, he actually looks as if he's been shot.

What does Superman Do?

Warning: I learnt at this point to be careful what hand signal you use to show that you would like your dog to do this.  The last thing you want is to reach for a paw and get two paws fly up and hit you in the face - yes that has happened to me.  Think about the signal that you use and don't use it for anything else - I accidentally used my 'stay' signal to teach Caesar to ballet dance.  That could be extremely interesting when he attempts his next Good Citizen award.

Link if you can't view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4vvpDDoqUA&feature=youtu.be

1. Make sure dog is in a calm comfortable sit.

2.  Ask for the dogs paw (this needs to be a previously trained trick.

3.  Do not hold dogs paw but allow them to rest it on you, gently moving it higher above the head.

4.  As soon as it's there, treat them lots! - Make sure the dog can get down at any time (don't hold their paws).

5.  Repeat using the word "superman".

This trick is simple to teach but requires a few training sessions.  Caesar now does his from a stand - he doesn't like doing it from a sit.  

So that's how to teach "Bang" and "Superman".  Once you've finished, you can combine for a hilarious Superman gets shot down from the sky combination!  Have fun!

Have you got any good trick tips?  Let me know if you try these - pictures would be fab! 

Lazy train

It's a fact that Caesar is trainable.  Highly trainable in my opinion.  Perhaps it is the silver lining in a cloud of destruction and naughtiness.  It is, at the very least, a redeeming quality.  I might even go as far as to say, it is this quality that convinced me not to take him back to the rescue centre after a weeks trial during which my house was partly destroyed, my sleep was hugely disturbed and my hair was very much torn out.  His trainability persuaded me that maybe there was something I could do.

And, although some of his problems have still not been solved, I'm now comfortable with giving him commands and, in return for treats, ninety-nine percent of the time, he will follow them.  Without too much hastle, he's mastered:
Sit

Stay

Stand

Leave it

Lie DownGo to bed

And a few others...

The problem is, though, that no matter how many tricks I teach Caesar in the house, he's still a nightmare when we go for a walk!  As soon as we leave the building, everything he knows disappears into a huge cloud of ridiculous behaviour.  His good manners and knowing to walk 'after me' in narrow spaces/on steps desert him, his 'leave it' command goes out of the window and, in general, he turns into a demon dog.

 This was the reason that, two years ago, I decided to put a lot of effort into training him to walk nicely on a lead.  There's nothing worse than seeing a large spotty mongrel coming towards you making a plethora of odd-ball noises and choking itself at the same time.  And, when we first got Caesar I was mortified to see that people actually looked quite worried about passing us in the street and, at times, ended up crossing the road altogether.  And, in hind-sight, quite rightly so; before getting Caesar, I may have done exactly the same.

The thing is, though, that I know that Caesar means nothing by his noises.  What he's saying is "Oh my goodness; this is so absolutely exciting and nerve racking!  Let me get to it and see what it is!" More often than not, the noise and excitement inducing object is another animal, usually a dog.  However, people are less aware of other dogs because of the nuisance Caesar is making of himself and often assume that his insanity is somehow aimed towards them.  However, in all my time of owning Caesar, I have never once seen him become unnerved the presence of people.  On walks, there are no people to Caesar, only other animals.

Anyway, I digress.  Let's skip back to the on lead behaviour training that I was attempting two years ago.  Unlike in-house training, lead training showed very little progress and, while Caesar had moved from sitting to lying to spinning and waving at home, he still couldn't grasp the simple equation that 'loose lead = treat' outside.  It was infuriating!  And, I'm ashamed to say, it wasn't long enough before I stuck a headcollar on Caesar in the hope that this would solve the problem.

Don't get me wrong, the Dogmatic headcollar that Caesar wears on each and every walk was heaven sent!  And, it's hugely important for us because Caesar can sometimes lunge towards other dogs.  And, having 20kg of muscle pulling against a lead can almost be joint dislocating at times.  Having control of him at these mad-dog moments is vital and the headcollar has ensured that this will always be the case.  

Despite reducing the strength behind him, Caesar continues to pull, even against his headcollar.  For the most part, it has been a matter of managing the amount in a battle of woman vs. dog.  And I have learnt to do this by:

a) swapping sides with the lead so that he doesn't get used to pulling on one side.

b) giving an occasional tug to remind him that he's at the end of his line.

c) Telling him off!

It's not that I don't realise the value of positive reinforcement, I do.  I would love to praise Caesar for not pulling but it simply didn't happen so I had to resort to C pretty quickly if I wanted to get anywhere at all on a walk.

I'm ashamed to say, though, that, although our walks were much more entertaining as a result of my ignorning Caesar's insistent pulling, I was being lazy.  We all know that time and effort pay off and, starting up on the heel work after two years has been tough going!  I'm pleased to report, though, that he responded pretty well; especially when I brought out some extra stinky treats (best put my coat in the wash later).  It was a matter of stopping quite often and a lot of silly-voice praise "you GOOOD boy" in the middle of the street.  But, I'm pleased to report that I saw, somewhere in the distance, a speck of hope!  Perhaps one day, I will have a dog who walks with me rather than drags me around.  Perhaps....

It takes two to Tango...

I don't feel like a particularly patient person.  I have been told in the past that I am.  However, I feel that these comments are not based on an accurate account of 100% of my personality.  At work I'm patient - that's a skill I need for my job.  However, once I get home, I hardly have the time to be continuing with my patience.  When asked if I am a patient person, Damien's response was "....I don't know."  I think this confirms it.

I try to be patient with Caesar.  Sometimes I manage for bursts of time - like in dog training or when doing our 15 minute flash training sessions.  However, at other times, particularly on walks, my patience with him begins to run very dry.  So, when Emma called at 8:30 on Monday night and asked if I'd like to try walking with her and Tango (something which Caesar has got used to) as well as Sian and Dexter (something Caesar refuses to get used to) I was a little concerned - I'd already used my share of today's patience.

The last meeting with Dexter had gone something like this - I wondered if we were ever going to crack this relationship!

My theory has always been that Caesar can and will get used to almost any dog if given time and maximum exposure.  This is how we got him used to Tango and, later, Gemma.  With Caesar, love at first sight is not an option.  Things take time and....well, patience.

Hastily, after walking a few metres from the house I offered Emma Caesar's lead.  "Can you take him?" I asked, looking pleadingly at her.  Emma has always been a saint with Caesar.  She saw the good in him even perhaps before I did and without a shadow of a doubt has had more belief in him than I ever have.  She knows that he is capable of impeccable behaviour and expects nothing less.  I, on the other hand, cannot help but embark upon each walk with a feeling of impending doom.

Not the view I'm used to seeing on a walk - but much easier on the arms!

The idea of Emma holding Caesar was two-fold.  First, I considered that my bad vibes might be projecting onto him.  And second, I wondered if Emma would combat his weird behaviour in a different way.

Firstly, and perhaps with slight relief, I noticed that Caesar was behaving in much the same way while Emma was holding him.  She wrested to get him to walk next to her and was holding onto the lead with both hands trying to stop him from lunging/running towards Dexter.  Sian kept a safe distance as Dexter too was barking and excited about the walk.  For a while, we walked metres apart from each other.  Emma in the lead with the squawking, squealing nervous wreck that was Caesar.  Myself in the middle holding the very sensible and well behaved Tango, who trotted along nicely.  And Sian at the back with Dexter who was barking with excitement.  Again....I'm sure my neighbours love me....
Thirty minutes into the walk and we had made a little progress.  Caesar was walking alongside Emma with small bouts of noiselessness.  When he did make noise, Emma held back with him thus removing him from me and Tango which is ideally where he wanted to be.  When he had a few seconds of quiet, she sped up to allow him to catch up with me.

Emma walking with Caesar.

This continued for almost an hour.  By which time, the gap had began to close.  Dexter was now walking sensibly beside Sian and Tango continued to be pretty much unfazed by anything.  Caesar was still squawking occasionally but was clearly trying hard to manage this by snorting instead.

By the end of the walk, the three of us were holding an easy conversation and, if only for five to ten minutes, Dexter and Caesar were walking alongside each other...

Caesar and Dexter walking alongside each other!

Caesar - King of the Head Collar

They're not cheap.  In fact, I nearly fainted when I realised how much a medium sized head collar could set you back.  But, is there such a thing as value for money in the head collar world or do you simply get what you pay for?  Here's the low down on the four head collars that we've tried:

• Halti
• Dogmatic
• Gentle lead - Full Halter
• Canny Collar

Halti

Caesar came with a Halti.  It's a shame I didn't know this as I bought one before I even got him.  The reason for this was that I knew he needed a head collar.  Possibly 2 was a little excessive.  I knew that he needed a head collar because I'd once attempted to walk him on a collar and lead - never again.

Benefits:

In all, the Halti fit snugly on his face and didn't look to be in any danger of falling off.  It had the extra safety precaution of the clip onto the collar.  This meant that, should he manage to free himself of the head collar, he was still attached to the lead (a bonus point that not all head collars offer).  Although this has never been too much of an issue with Caesar, I do have a friend whose dog has a larger neck than head and this means that He can slip move things over his head.  The Halti would not prevent this entirely, but would make it more difficult should he attempt to do this.

Being the sensitive soul that he is (in more ways that one), Caesar becomes very sore on his neck from wearing a collar.  One strength of the Halti was that it had a padded nose band so that it did not irritate the skin on his nose.

Halti's, unlike many other head collars are available from major retailers such as Pets At Home so it is sometimes possible to try before you buy.  This means no expensive return postage problems.  

Another bonus for larger dog breed owners, like myself, is that Halti do not charge extra for larger sized dogs.  This differs from some of the other head collars that can add up to £4 extra onto larger dog head collars.

Drawbacks:

The fact that the Halti simply slips over the nose means that there aren't a lot of points to hold the collar in place.  Therefore, when Caesar decided to ignore it's existence and pull anyway, it slipped up into his eye. Caesar learned to walk reasonably well on the Halti.  However, when seeing another dog, he would ignore it and pull hard causing the band to move into his eyes.  This caused higher levels of stress on walks.  

The Halti, like many other head collars does require you to have an idea of the size of your dogs head.  However, these sizes are defined by breed.  The problem occurs when, like many of us, your dog cannot be defined by one breed.  It's hard for me to decide whether Caesar's head is larger than a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and if his face could be described as 'Labrador sized'.  Every time I have had to buy a head collar for Caesar that requires sizing by breed, I have always got it wrong and had to return it.

Also from a picky dog walker point of view, I was never keen on the look of the Halti, despite the option of buying it in 4 different colours.  For me, it didn't look particularly friendly and I felt the black band and halter looked somewhat unfriendly.

Dog biscuit sized review:  Cheaply priced and widely available but not well fixed to the dogs face.  Could fix low level pulling problems but for persistent pullers (such as Caesar) it rides up into the eyes causing stress.

The Dogmatic

Attending dog classes saw the end of the Halti era.  And, my new dog trainer recommended something a little more sturdy.  She gave the choice of two: Canny collars and Dogmatics.  Seeing the colourful and friendly looking Dogmatic, I decided to buy it despite it being the most expensive head collar on the list.  At almost £20, it wasn't exactly a bargain but I was immediately drawn to it.  The Dogmatic comes in several different colours and some of these come with fun puppy designs.  I decided it was exactly what I needed to make my oversized squealing, lunging Staffy cross look a little more friendly!

Benefits:

Let's get my own obsession with Caesar looking friendly out of the way first.  In my humble opinion, you can't get a friendlier looking head collar.  Not only are Dogmatics colourful, they are decorated with small friendly looking puppy faces.  You can also get a range of leather dogmatic collars which come in plain different colours.  Pretty nifty really.

The entire head collar is bulkier than the others and has metal fastenings which allow it to be maneuverable in some ways, but this also stops it from moving about on Caesar's face.  It works in a simple but effective way and, besides the Halti which was introduced at the rescue centre, I have seen the most dramatic affect after the introduction of this collar.  

Overall it feels more robust but has padding to ensure the comfort of the dog.  It feels secure and well fitted to the dog's face and somewhat adjustable for the size of your dogs head.  Caesar has tried in every way possible to remove his Dogmatic but never one has he succeeded.  The head collar seems to stay firmly in place once fitted correctly and offers a sense of security for the owner.  And, having owned one for a year, it has proved fairly resilient to Caesar's constant attempts to yank at it and pull it off his face.  It's true the Dogmatic has been through a lot.  Namely; sea water, claggy mud piles and sand.  It has been scratched, bashed off the floor and bitten but still stands strong.

Perhaps most importantly for me, the Dogmatic gives me a sense of control.  With the lead fixing point under the chin, I can turn Caesar's face away when necessary.  This has proved useful when walking past another dog as it can help me ensure that Caesar cannot lunge in their direction.

Drawbacks

Although probably my favourite of the head collars, I have to admit that the Dogmatic is Caesar's least favoured headwear.  And, having owned and worn it during walks for over a year, he still has to be chased around the house in order to get it on and, once it's in place, he spends a great deal of his time trying to get it back off again.

To be fair on the head collar, Caesar has worn it for the majority of walks for over a year and it has remained fairly in tact. As you can probably tell, he's not particularly well behaved while walking on the lead so he does require something quite resilient.  After almost eighteen months of constant wear, it is beginning to show some signs of fraying around the chin.

A minor point but one that has got me into trouble before now is the lead fixing position of this head collar.  Because the lead is fixed under the chin, the front most part of the dogs body, an excitable dog (like Caesar) can swing their back end around freely.  This is not a huge problem for most people but I have had unhappy grandparent related coffee table, tea spilling incidents and also knee bumping incidents when trying to control Caesar on the head collar.  At one point, I adopted a double ended lead/body harness approach to try to counter this but found it not to be too much of a problem for most of the time.  The lead fixing point can also mean that, if Caesar stops and I continue to walk, the bottom band of the head collar and metal fixing ring can get stuck in his mouth as they rise up in front of his face.

The final drawback of this head collar is not my own but feedback from another dog owner.  I happily recommended this head collar in the early days of buying it for Caesar and another owner bought one accordingly.  However, she found it impossible to find a size for her dog that fit properly.  One size was too large around her face and another was too small.  There was no happy medium.  Because of the way the head collar fits, I can see how this could be the case.  And, admittedly, when I bought Caesar's, I had to send it back (and pay for packaging to do so) in order to get the next size down.

Dog biscuit sized review:  Good for me but Caesar hates it.  Sizing can be difficult and this can incur additional return postage costs which add to this already pricey head collar.  However, I feel in control of Caesar at all times which is important with a reactive dog.

Gentle Lead - Full Halter

I have a tiny bit of a confession with this one.  I bought it by accident!  My friend was telling me how well her Gentle Leader was working so I decided to investigate.  Unfortunately, I cut off the word "leader" and simply used the word 'lead'.  This brings about completely different results.  And turns a Halti like lead into something that looks more like a piece of rope with some fastenings.  

Benefits

I have to be honest and say that, of all of the head collars, this is by far my least favourite.  However, the Gentle Lead does come in nice bright colours and only one size.  This means that you cannot possibly get the sizing for your dog wrong (a bonus for someone who always does this)!  It is also, by far, the cheapest of the head collars.  Coming in at under £7.  Perhaps I should have seen this as a clue when buying it!  I can't deny, however, it does look quite nice when it's on.  Caesar seems the least phased by this head collar, probably because of it's lightweight look and feel.

Drawbacks

Out of all of the head collars, I feel as if I have the least control with this one.  Fitting it was difficult and the instructions was a complicated diagram with a list of parts which was extremely hard to understand.  I managed to fit it by process of elimination in the end.  I don't feel particularly in control of Caesar having used this head collar and the rope feels flimsy and insufficient for larger breeds.  In addition, the thin rope hurt my hands when Caesar pulled continuously.

Dog biscuit sized review:  It's a nice colour and doesn't require sizing.  However, personally, I don't trust this head collar and ceased using it within a week of buying. I have to admit that this wasn't due to any particular incident; I just did not feel that it was robust enough for Caesar.

Canny Collar

The Canny Collar is the latest addition to Caesar's head collar collection.  After I could see the Dogmatic head collar coming to the end of it's life, I decided to experiment with a different type.  Being a fan of the Dogmatic, I thought the Canny Collar, which works differently, might be a useful tool in aiding me to mix and match.  Perhaps, I mused, this might help me to train Caesar to walk on the lead better - he wouldn't get too used to one type and find ways to pull.

Benefits

The Canny Collar looks smart and does not make too much of an impact on the dogs face.  It is a simple band that fastens over the nose which makes it easy to put on (once you get the hang of it).  At the time that I purchased mine, black was cheaper and so I chose black, not wanting to pay more for a different colour.  I've since noticed that you can choose any colour on the Canny Collar website without paying the extra.  In addition, the website itself has a measuring guide for dogs to help you choose the right size, rather than referring to specific breeds.

I like the Canny Collar as it works in a completely different way to the other collars.  It fastens at the back of the dogs head with two small rings and is built into a collar for extra reassurance.  If, unlike Caesar, your dog can come off the lead, the nose loop can simply be removed and fastened onto the collar using two clips which come with the Canny Collar.

Caesar doesn't mind this collar too much and it isn't very difficult to get him to put it on.  He also doesn't seem too distressed by wearing it during a walk.  The positive side of having a head collar that fastens behind the head, is that the head does not jerk to the side if you or the dog tugs on the lead.  And this works hugely in the favour of this head collar.  On one walk, using a front fastening head collar, Caesar stepped onto the road when a car was coming.  Panicking, I jerked the lead back instinctively and he gave a yelp as it jerked his neck to one side.  This could not happen with Canny Collar as the mechanism pulls the dogs head downwards and not sideways.

Drawbacks
I found fitting the Canny Collar very difficult and, having had it for around a month, I still think there's a possibility that it could be a size too big - Caesar keeps slipping the band off his nose.  At first this was fine but, when done at the crucial moment, for example when holding 2 dogs and a 3 bags of shopping, it can be a real problem.

Out of all the head collars, I feel that this has the least impact in terms of pulling.  While it feels sturdy and I'm sure that it will stay on in some form, preventing Caesar from running away, he finds it fairly easy to resist and can pull with some force when on it.  In it's defense, I have to say that it is still a great improvement on lead and collar walking as it does not allow him to pull with as much force.  However, when he is determined to get somewhere, he can get a good pull on this head collar without causing himself too much discomfort.  

Dog biscuit sized review: Well thought out design means that the dogs head is not jerked - this is possibly why it is one of Caesar's favoured head collars.  The other reason, of course, could be that it allows him to pull more than most of the other collars.  

Summary
As I hope you have seen, each head collar has benefits and draw backs and it's up to you to decide what the most important factors are for you.  Each of the head collars described, has both good and bad reviews on it's website and this is largely down to individual preferences by both dogs and owners.  I hope the review helps you to select one that suits both yourself and your dog.

Have you tried one of these head collars or perhaps a different kind again?  I'd love to hear your comments.

Rescue Advent Calendar

There's still time to enter your rescue dogs into the Saving Caesar rescue advent calendar.  If you would like to see your own rescue dog and their story appear behind one of the windows of the online advent calendar, fill out the form and send it back.  You can write as much or as little as you like about your rescue.  There is no charge for entering and no personal details are collected (first name only required).

Click to submit your dog's details

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Fun on the furniture...

Good intentions.  It's what we all have when we adopt any dog or puppy.  But how many of your rules have stuck?  How many of your rules did you yourself truly believe in?

When we got Caesar, we had a short (we thought) list of rules that were going to form the foundation of our relationship.  They were as follows:

1.  No going upstairs
2.  Must sleep in a crate
3.  To be contained to dining room when left alone.
4.  No going on the furniture

I can quite honestly say that none of these rules are now in place.  But, hopefully, I can justify the reason for the majority of them being scrapped.  Let's break these down.

1.  No going upstairs
We spent the first few days of Caesar's adoption chasing him back downstairs.  He would insist on investigating the top of the stairs and rooms surrounding.  It consumed a great deal of our time stopping this and, having fitted a baby gate, he proceeded to jump over it.  The problem was, Caesar wanted to be wherever I was and if that place was upstairs, then it was upstairs that he wanted to be.  Eventually, I got him to stay downstairs.  Then, one day while I was alone in the house and in the shower, I heard a lot of noise coming from downstairs.  I couldn't get down to find out what he was doing and by the time I did he had pulled things off shelves and torn pieces of paper to shreds.  He had also gone to the toilet on the floor.  I realised how uncomfortable he was being left and it hit me that, by extending that time to times when I was upstairs as well as times when I was out of the house, I extended his anxiety.  I decided that I was fighting a losing battle by banishing him to the downstairs of the house and so, eventually, taught him how to follow me up and down the stairs carefully.  Now, he sits in the bathroom while I have a shower or even go to the toilet.  He gets ready with me for nights out and watches me while I do my hair on a morning before work.  Never again has he destroyed anything in the house while I have been there...

Now I've broken this rule, I can't even go to the toilet in peace!

2.  Must sleep in a crate
The point of this rule was to make Caesar feel safe but also to stop him from destroying anything while we were in bed.  He hated his crate from the word go, despite our trying everything in the book.  We fed him in there, we left treats and toys in there and, when all that didn't work, we eventually tried sitting in there with him.  Caesar's in-crate behaviour was not only naughty but downright dangerous.  He would screech and cry for some time and then we would hear a lot of clattering and crashing.  On going downstairs, we would find thin trails of blood everywhere, usually coming from his tail.  Caesar had learnt to force the crate door by crashing into it so hard that he hurt himself.  When he was trapped inside, he would bite his tail until it bled.  After a few nights, we realised that he was less likely to hurt himself by being left out of his crate within the confines of the dining room; even if the dining room suffered as a result.

Much happier in his own comfy bed

3.  Be contained to the dining room
The dining room in our house is a good size and had toys, bowls of food and drink as well as a comfortable bed and crate for Caesar.  However, none of these proved enough to satisfy him.  And, on returning from work, I would take a pause before opening the door.  Caesar had usually, at the very least, messed on the floor but usually, had skidded around on the dining table, pulled books off the shelves and bitten his tail some more.  Eventually, my dog trainer suggested giving him the run of the house...

The second week that we had Caesar - exhausted from playing with his Kong all around the house!

4.  No going on the furniture
After a few months of developing an unbreakable bond with Caesar, I realised that I wanted to take him for a cuddle on a night or sit him on my knee on an evening.  So, selfishly, he is now allowed on the furniture.

I'll admit it was a mistake telling him that he was 'allowed on the furniture'...

So there you are, all 4 rules broken in the first 18 months.

What rules have you broken?  Leave a comment and let us know.

The perfect house guest...??

Caesar doesn't get invited around to other people's houses too much.  I'm not surprised really.  Last time we were guest's in anyone's house other than my parents he weed all over the floor out of pure excitement at being there.  It's not that he's too badly behaved at other houses, at least he doesn't mean to be anyway, it's more that he is extremely interested in everything that they have.  If he were a person, this would be an endearing quality.  The type of person who comes round and compliments your furniture, asks for a tour of your beautiful home and shows a LOT of interest in what you're cooking.  As a dog, I can't deny, it is slightly irritating.

Luckily, for my parents at least, he is now used to their house and so has learnt how to behave there....most of the time anyway.  He saunters in, gives everyone a fuss and then sits waiting to have his head collar removed.  Once he is head collar free, he then moves into the kitchen with my dad.  He does this because that is where the food is.  If he is called away from the kitchen area, he will generally come but then makes it his soul mission to get back to the kitchen again.  He particularly likes my parents' automatically opening bin which is essentially the magic gateway to leftover food.

At home, Caesar is not allowed on the furniture.  At least, not the sofas anyway.  He comes to bed most nights with me so the bedrooms have slightly different rules.  Generally, he understands this.  Occasionally, he will come for a hug on the rocking chair but only when invited.  Once we leave, of course, the rules are redundant and I frequently catch him sitting on the leather sofa.  In fact, there is a huge chunk missing from said sofa where he tried to dig a hole....

'Maybe, if I stare hard enough, he'll drop some....'

At my parents' house, the rules are no longer in play either.  And, for some reason, he feels that he is welcome to sit, lie or otherwise make himself comfortable on any of their sofas.  The problem is, where as my sofa was less than £200 and bought from Macro, their sofa or should I say 'suite' is from a proper sofa catalogue where you can order sofas that have a guarantee and come with which you can buy special cleaning equipment.  I'm guessing the guarantee is void if a large dog attempts to dig a hole in your new Richmond suite....   Perhaps that's worth checking.

Caesar is treated like a VIP at my parents' house.  I'm surprised he wants to go home.  He get's left over food (a good chunk of pork last night), to lie on the settee (actually meant my dad having to sit on the floor) and cuddled and fussed all of the time.  No wonder he cries in the car all the way home!!

How does your dog act at other people's houses?  Angel or anarchist?  Let me know with a comment.