[nagdu] Finicky eaters

Mon Jul 5 00:45:43 UTC 2010

Lyn and Rox,

I was wondering whehter to confess that I have given up trying to train DD
not to feed from the table. Or while cooking. The way he does it, including
my dog with his, of course, it's actually improved their manners.  Still!  I
would like to be able to claim I have a few principles.  /grin/

The DD way isn't the full Zen you teach, Rox, but it is similar.  Our dogs
have several sets of manners, depending on which table (or approximation)
we're eating at and whether there's company.  Breakfast Club is hysterical,
BTW. The dogs know better than to beg, but they certainly do give him their
full attention! It always looks like they're his disciples sitting raptly at
his feet.  /lol/

I'm not going to test either of them on a meat patties, though!  Sigh. We
had a guest sort of person here for awhile last winter, until we could
finally get rid of him, and he did *not* follow the house rules with the
dogs.  We had to go back to work on a number of things to reclaim our peace
loving, civilized dogs.  Mitzi rediscovered the joys of counter surfing ....
Oh, because that wasn't nearly enough fun to lick in the first place when
she was still young and hadn't fully developed her skills of sneakiness.
Poodles are the tops as sneaky scavengers to begin with.  And I will admit,
she did an impressive steak snag from right under DD's nose while he was
reading directions on a box.  And yet she lived, unbruised and unbloodied.
Saint like paitence was required from both humans.  We discussed our
possible options in non angry voices, and we got pretty creative.

I also had to go back to putting her on restriction at night for awhile.
Cramping her style is very mean treatment.  Just ask her!

I've noticed that we can set stuff on the kitchen island again and find it
there when get back.  Whew!  Actually, Mitzi's an odd little critter.  If we
had yelled at her and made a big deal about her crime, she have thought it
was funny and been more inspired to try again.  As it was, we simply didn't
look at her for awhile, so that took all the fun out it.  Also, we didn't
need the histrionics for her to know how angry and disapproving we were.
Even during her most rebellious teen phase, she would push the envelop and
the boundaries and even break them justs to see how I would react, or the
rest of the audience if there was one around.  Monster!  But she knew
exactly what she was doing, and she would do what I expected of her when it
counted, as well as just how far to push even at home or play.  She
destroyed one set of shoes (they were getting there on their own, anyway)
her first or second day and thought she was pretty funny and clever while I
picked up the pieces grimly and sighed.  So that was the end of that,
although she did think it was funny to steal my shoes and hide each on in a
different part of the house while I was getting dressed to take her out.
Then she would follow me around grinning and wagging while I searched.
Eventually, she clued in that this delayed our getting out to play, so she
stopped and started finding things for me so we could get out and get going.

Well, that tendency to test the line has translated nicely into intelligent
disobedience on the job.  /smile/

Anyway, I think Mommy's little counter surfer has given up her life of petty
crime and is back on the straight and narrow.  For now ....  /smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Linda Gwizdak
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2010 10:10 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Finicky eaters

Hey Rox,
That is interesting about the Zen thing and dogs having food at the table. 
Wow!  the frozen hambergers! Good Doggies!!! LOL! I wish everyone who likes 
to feed their dogs at the table wouold train them your way!

Happy Fourth!

Lyn and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "The Pawpower Pack" <pawpower4me at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 03, 2010 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Finicky eaters

> My vet who even sells kibble in his office, thinks my dogs are pretty 
> healthy.  He doesn't get extra money from me for things like teeth 
> cleaning since my dogs all have white teeth, but he still loves me 
> anyway! lol!  Actually Bristol, my 12.5 year old dog has been eating  this

> way for ten years and he always comments on how healthy she is.
>
> My dogs do get fed by hand, and have occasionally been fed by hand  from 
> the table, We call this doggie Zen.  This means that in order to  get what

> you want, you must ignore the thing that you want.  In order  for me to 
> think about feeding you from the table, you must be laying  calmly, head 
> down, and ignoring me, and my food.
> It is how I first teach young dogs to lay under a table once they 
> understand the concept of Zen which is used in many situations.  I  eat, 
> dog ignores me, click and treat.
> So come dinner time we have four dogs laying under the table ignoring  us.

> Well Mill'E is waiting for me to drop something like a fork or a  box so 
> she can pick it up and bring it to me in hopes for "a tip."
> Once I dropped a bunch of frozen hamburger patties on the floor and  she 
> picked them up, one by one and handed them to me.  Since the said  patties

> were by then, covered with dog spit and floor germs, I saved  them for the

> dogs.  It was still great to see that my dog could  retrieve even food 
> items without snarfing them down.
>
>
> Rox and the Herbal HenchHounds
> Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
> "It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point 
> out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half- wit,

> and the emperor remains an emperor."-- Neil Gaiman
> http://www.pawpowercreations.com/retreat.html
> pawpower4me at gmail.com
> AIM: Brissysgirl
>
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