I don’t treat my pets the same. I live with three animals: my mutt Ace, my gray tabby cat Scout and Josh’s orange tabby Beamer. Josh and I have not reached the point in our relationship where the pets are “ours.” Instead, it’s my dog, my cat and his cat. We take advantage of this, …
Ace
One of my dog-running clients wanted her dog to socialize and practice walking with another dog, so Ace and I met up with them Saturday. Ace was the perfect match because he is calm and submissive. Of course, the meeting benefited both dogs. It’s always good for Ace to be around other dogs, especially to …
30-day challenge: Loose-leash walking A good trick to get my mutt to walk nicely at my side is to give him something to carry in his mouth. Since he is a retriever, carrying is serious business. I try to avoid tennis balls and give him something like a stick or water bottle. Carrying the stick …
Ace and I headed over to Lindenwood Park in Fargo Saturday for a much-needed walk. We have to drive there, but it’s only a few miles away. I thought this park would be good for Ace because it’s full of trees and squirrels, and he’s only been there a few times. The mutt got some …
One of the biggest mistakes I can make with my dog is expecting too much too quickly. Although I have high expectations for Ace, I still take things in small steps so success is easier. When I adopted Ace, he was a year old and did not know a single command. I’m not even sure …
It’s rewarding for me to work with dogs because they’ve taught me that with time and patience, dogs and owners can overcome almost anything. It’s just up to the owner to make changes. After all, most problems are the human’s fault to begin with. So many retrievers are obsessed with tennis balls, so many border …
For those of you who are sick of hearing about this crazy retriever and his ball, our challenge is almost over. Ace (not pictured) is far from cured of his obsession, but at least we are making progress in the right direction. I took Ace to the dog park on Friday. I went early, hoping …
Ace and I visited family last weekend, and he had the chance to play some fetch in my grandpa’s backyard (the “family” even posed for this group shot). At first I thought he would be too obsessed to be allowed to play fetch, but he wasn’t too bad. We’d throw the ball for five minutes …
Since I’ve been doing most of my work with Ace outside, I decided to try working with him indoors. We basically did some of the same exercises we’ve tried before, I just want him to know he is expected to follow the same rules no matter where we are. The next step is to work …
Yesterday was the last day of my 30-day challenge to teach my dog five new commands: bang, roll over, crawl, go long and bucket. Let me stress that although my dog is grasping these new commands, he is still learning. The biggest mistake I made with this challenge was to set a deadline. Dogs can’t …