D'vorahDavida
Yetzirah

Lessons From Pal
Sun Sep 21 2008

Pal is still with us.

I think in the middle of the night he exchanged his evil twin for the real Pal because he has made a dramatic turn around. He and Sunny are playing without the snarls and teeth... though it IS still pretty rowdy play.

Someone in the Sheltie Rescue group suggested lime juice as a deterrent for bad behavior.

I didn't have lime juice but I had a natural oil air freshener from Trader Joe's in a little spray bottle. I carried it in my pocket for a couple of days and sprayed it in Pal's mouth when he jumped up on me or tried to jump on my chair when I was in it. Stuff worked like magic....

We let him roam around the house a little bit last night and I kept an eagle eye on him for potty mistakes. He didn't even think about doing anything in that department. Though I must admit, I don't fully trust him yet.

The one thing we are not seeing progress in is his relationship with Fiona.
Cats were put on Earth to chase. That's pretty much Pal's opinion on the subject, and he doesn't want to hear much else about it at the moment. Unfortunately there have been a couple of mad dashes through the yard with him in hot pursuit and now Fiona doesn't trust him one bit.

I don't blame her either.

So here is what I have learned from Pal:

During the first 48 hours, all doggy behaviors are to be considered temporary insanity.

Just because you are 5 years old, does not mean you can't still be acting like a silly puppy.

Trader Joe's natural air freshener is magic. Buy more.

Sunny is more resilient than I give her credit for.

***

There you have it.

The care and education of the resident human.

7 Comments
  • From:
    Welshamethyst (Legacy)
    On:
    Sun Sep 21 2008
    Glad to hear he's taken a turn for the better. He was probably stressed out. I'm just glad it seems not to be indicative of bigger issues.

    Maggie and Chance go all out when playing sometimes. It alarms the heck out of the kid next door and he yells that they're fighting but it's just typical doggy behavior. Or it is until Maggie let's Chance "win".

    Dunno what to tell you about poor Fiona. Neither Chance nor Maggie showed cat chasing inclinations when I brought them home. Of course, the cats were bigger than Chance so he was more frightened of them that they were of him. Actually, come to think of it, my cats have never been cowed by any visiting dogs *scratches chin*.

  • From:
    404Error (Legacy)
    On:
    Sun Sep 21 2008
    I'm glad Pal is getting with the program.

    Is he crate trained for night time? I'm just curious because after the first couple of nights of whining, crate trained dogs make for much more sound sleep. Also, it makes it easy to contain a dog when random repairmen, cable guys or other visitors come into the house.

    As a further bonus to crate training, it makes the trainer feel so masterful when he or she opens the crate door, commands "in," and the dog walks in, turns around and sits there while the door is closed. No arguments, no struggles, just successes. Ahhh, crate training is a beautiful thing.
  • From:
    Dustbunny3 (Legacy)
    On:
    Sun Sep 21 2008
    Hee Haw what a chore. Now if Pal ever meet Fred our cat in FT.Jones it would be a lesson he never forgot.
    Fred stood his ground no matter the breed,size, and none made the mistake twice .Fred would stare down most but others had a wild cat on thier back fur flying dog screeming and marked with CAT pee. Not one town dog ever tested him twice.
  • From:
    Mamallama (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon Sep 22 2008
    The world of dogs is a strange and wonderful thing.
    Glad he shaped up.
  • From:
    Colleen (Unauthenticated) (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon Sep 22 2008
    This all reminds me of what it is like when getting an ex-racing greyhound! 80 pounds of giant dog (about 6 inches wide and 4+ feet tall) with no more sense than a puppy....puppies chew, but their damage is limited, since they (mostly) stop before they are that big....but Andesha's alligator jaws did an awful lot of damage! Luckily he figured out he was an adult after a few weeks.
  • From:
    Pragmatist (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon Sep 22 2008
    All taught by the resident canine.

    Too bad Fiona can't handle a spray bottle.


    Bless
  • From:
    Bookworm (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon Sep 22 2008
    Cool tip about the spray. I wonder if this would work with cats? My cat just doesn't like me, though I'm the one who feeds it. Grrr. ;-)