Sometimes, when we're out and the children stop to talk to him, they have trouble finding the right end.
Here's a photo of him lounging on the car seat as I do the child pick-ups. Look for the glimpse of a collar to find his head.
He's good company in the car. There's never any back seat driving or difficult, philosophical questions to distract me at the lights. A modern, savvy dog, he gets the breeze in his hair from the air-conditioning vents. No unseemly hanging out of windows for him. Sometimes he sits, with the cold rush of air pinning his ears back and I swear he smiles.
Yesterday, we took pity on him and visited the dog groomers. What an up-market sort he is now. Can you see the difference?
I'm trying to train him not to approach the dining table when we're eating. It's going... slowly.
The most difficult part is training the kids to resist those pleading eyes.
How did you train your dog?
Or does he now have his own place setting?
Oh how I do adore your little man...curly locks and happy wags, what more could you want?
ReplyDeleteAs for the question of table etiquette, I was taught long ago to never ever feed our dogs whilst we were eating.
They have to sit and stay on a mat away from the table and when we've finished they get to eat.
Sounds harsh I know but it works.
Happy day!
He is gorgeous, curls and all. It must be nice to see immediately which end his eyes are at. He would have no chance if my kids could get to him. So snugly!
ReplyDeleteI just lost a reply, so if it shows up; sorry for the repeat:
ReplyDeleteYour post made me smile and laugh: Thank You. Wonderful writing.
Table training: completely ignore dog. If dog jumps onto legs, person just gets up, away from dog, and pretends to get something across the room. Return to the table with no acknowledgment of the dog.
The dog will learn, with consistency from the people, that they make their people move away, and dog won't like that.
No look, nod, nudge or notice from humans toward dog throughout meal: dogs go toward reward/attention, even negative attention, which is a nudging of dog to get off lap, so no attention will lead the dog to stop trying.
Our two puppies don't bother us at the table because they have never received any bit of attention when we sit down: nothing.
To reward the children: they get to choose next family video, or extra time on computer, whatever, but a reward for not paying any attention to the dog.
Give it a month, just to have a sense of deadline, but it shouldn't take too long, as long as everyone is persistent and consistent.
***
Thinking of you ... I'm so sorry for your loss.
Marian
It's a real dog! I thought you were fooling us with a photo of a fluffy rug...
ReplyDeleteI don't remember how I trained my dog, (he's long gone now), but I do remember that I could leave him inside while I went shopping and the defrosting steak on the sink would still be there when I got home; when we had bbq's he would stay away from the crowd until we'd all finished eating, only coming forward once the leftovers were being scraped onto his dish.