Basil feelin' the Blues

Basil woke us up barking from downstairs last night. We thought he wanted to go out which is unsual for him. We went downstairs and there was drippy poo all over the living room carpet. This morning, he didn't seem like he wanted to go out and was kinda slow moving.

Basil Loves Cuddles

We know how much Basil loves his cuddles...actually they are mommy's cuddles. Wherever they go, Basil goes.

Two Dogs, One House

Basil has showed some signs of dominating. He's guarding the bones and water bowl ocassionally. Even if Basil is already chewing on a bone (bone #1), if Guinness goes to pick up another bone (bone #2) to chew, Basil leaves bone #1 to take bone #2 from Guinness and then sits on bone #1 while chewing bone #2.

Guinness = 0 bones. :(

We read that if that starts happening, take the bone away (eventually giving it back) in order to teach them that no one will play with it if they can't share. They do take turns and there haven't been any fights, so we don't think this is a big problem. It just seems like Basil is throwing his weight around a little.

Guinness' Story

Tell us what you think of our video.

Pawrents

Mom Love


Dad Love

Wonder Dogs: Orientation

Today was orientation for the pawrents at Wonder Dogs, where we enrolled Guinness in a basic obedience class for dogs older than 12 months. It was very informative.

Homework:

• Practice "sit" with Guinness....check
• Use words "yes", "too bad" and "okay"...check
• Call Guinness' name, draw the treat from his nose to your eye, when you have his attention and he's looking you in the eyes, say "yes" and give him the treat....check.
• Feed him dinner from your hands.
• Don't play tug of war with him...too late.
• Don't wrastle with him...EVER...too late.
• Socialize socialize socialize...check.
• Praise him with love and "good boy" when he's laying around quietly doing nothing.

To be consistent and share leadership, we take turns working with Guinness and we've set up a schedule to do it at the same time each evening. Guinness already knows "sit", but the focus on our eyes was something we needed to work on. He's so smart. He picked it up right away and by the evening, I was able to hold his attention without a treat.

No alpha rolls

From our experience with Basil, we just don't think alpha rolls are effective or necessary. We won't be doing it anymore. We love Cesar Millan, but some of his tactics include domination (while being the pack leader) and that really isn't something we feel is necessary with our frenchies. Basil knows we're the leaders. I have read mixed reviews on alpha rolls and most people say they are not effective in the long term. We agree. If we're still not seeing the results we want, then maybe it's time to try something else to achieve the behavior we want.