Update on last night!

Put all 3 dogs in the sitting room, went to bed and read for half an hour (dog book).

Dear hubby - pessimist that he is said - wait for the howling and scratching at the gate. Well l waited and absolutely nothing.

When l got up in the night l heard Seiger (heavy paws) move closer to the gate but nothing. They were quiet all night and the only thing that set them off was at 6-45am the dogs next door had a good old barking session in their garden.

After l had let them out l noticed that one of them probably Scamper weed by the patio door and it was a lot , so l think that he had only done this in the morning after a full bladder. Also Seiger (suprisingly) did a poo on my laminate flooor. Hubby says it is a protest poo for being kicked out of the bedroom.

All in all l would say it was an amazing success. Hopefully it was'nt a fluke but I am keeping them and future dogs downstairs from now on. Thank you Karen, l would'nt have even tried to do this ever.

Today l am giving the stair carpet the brush of its lifetime and then fitting the baby gate at the bottom. That will stop them getting upstairs but allow the cats to jump over to safety. It will also stop them trying to eat hubbys face flannel (YUK).

I have been on my first walk of the day and decided to be tough with Scamper. I was'nt having any of his avoidance tactics and so l saddled him up with the rest (gave them a titbit once they were done) and off we went.

He did drag behind but l just kept encouraging him until we got to the bit where l let them off the leash. He played around quite happily so l think it is all to do with the lead and halti and not agrophobia.

When it was time to pop them back on their leads, l decided not to connect Scampers halti. Instead of dragging behind he then almost took the lead over Schmoo. He kept pulling to the side and leaning that way so l guess he hates the halti and does want to do his own thing - right again Karen.

I have already changed the leads over for the next walk. I will still keep Seiger on one side on his own as he was forever tripping over Schmoo. He walks really well until we meet another dog.

I have one of those hands free leads that you can put round your waist and let the dog just follow on. I have found that if l twist it round to the back left side and attach Schmoo to it - he walks quite well on his own at my side, so he is going to go on that.

I will have Scamper on my left on a lead so l can tweak him and get him to walk to heal. Hopefully that will work.

Of course my ever faithful and unfashionable bum bag is always with me. I found those little treat bags to be quite usless. I carry poo bags, my mobil phone (in case of emergency) and a bag full of treats. Today l had chopped up chicken and it actually saved me from a confrontation!

One of the village hunter ladies was cycling up towards me. She would have got to me before l could have got all 3 on a lead. Scamper gave a little warning bark when he spotted her but l just called all 3 to me and waved a piece of chicken under their noses. All 3 turned round when she cycled past and said hello but they were quickly back to seeing what was in my hand. I gave them all a piece and praised them up. It was a total sucess and l felt quite pround that they were not going to be the talk of the village.

Anyway l've raved on yet again! Good job this is'nt a talking forum as no one would get a word in edgeways!!! I hope l am not boring you all by the way- it's just that l am making major changes and trying to be pack leader and the advice l am getting is really helping.

Karen are you a proffessional behavourist? You really sound like you know your stuff. Have you dogs of your own?

Anyway got to go again. Hubby says that l am either working with the dogs or on this forum. What he means is he is running out of socks and he might have to use the washing machine!!!! ttfn xxx Kitty

I Kittysoo - hope last night went well

Did I just read that right - have you just had a baby too? wow you do have your plate full and congratulations

Well Tootsie is still in my bedroom as I can not set my house alarm while she is downstairs but she is in her own bed and she isnt putting up much of a fight on that one. As for not coming up onto the furniture - well if looks could kill I wouldnt be here right now and if she decides to take herself upstairs on her own I call her back.

I am taking her on an organised dog walk tomorrow at the beach with her pet sitters ( I go away a bit with work so she goes to stay with a pet sitter whilst I am away ) I am going to be trying out her new cage in the car so wish me luck.

Im the same with carrying Gemma when there are broken bottles lying around. When we go on longer walks in the summer Tootsie actually plonks her bum down when she is tired so I have to pick her up I think I have a lot of work to do - its amazing how many things you look at a bit differently when ou read up on their behaviour a bit.

Have a lovely weekend everybody

edited to add - think we cross posted Kittysoo - glad it is all going well

Tootsies Mum you made me chuckle. The only babies l have are fur babies! lol. Dear hubby is 65 and l have just turned 50! I have become a grandmother though as little George was born 7 and a half weeks premature weighing in at 2lbs 13oz! He never had to have oxygen and is now 2months old and weighs over 6lb. He seems to gain weight as easy as l do. My other grandchild is due the end of June so a good year for me! We seem to have been waiting forever and then 2 on the way.

As l am on now l'll update again. Second walk was also brilliant. I did as l said l would and all 3 walked well. Scamper still does'nt want to go out which is worrying but l am working on that one but this time after an initial drag out of the door and front garden(granted it started to rain) he was fine and walked by my side. He did try to pull me a little bit but after years of holding back GSDs it's nothing. I will work on that too. The only thing was Scamper and Schmoo kept swapping which side they wanted to be on. I think they took turns trying to be beside me.

Dear hubby or DH for short has made some alterations to the baby gate so that it cuts a little of the hall off and then the stairs are on the right. It looks much better. and gives the cats a chance to sit and work out the best way out. It also means that Scamper can't reach by bears that l have on a little homemade settle. It's no joke to see him dragging my boyd bears about!

All 3 have made a mad dash to get through the gate when it is opened but not succeeded. I can now make my upstairs a dog fur free zone!

I have also bought some pet corrector spray. I onlyu live in a liitle semi but it backs onto fields and the farmer has just put sheep in there today. Scamper decided to have a bark and l gave him a blast of noise and it pulled him up. He did it 3 times and then got bored so round 1 to me l think.

It's so nice that you have dog sitters for Tootsie. I think they are a much better option that kennels. I have never put a dog in a kennel ever - but there again l have never had a proper holiday since l have kept animals!

Whoops I think I must have read your post the wrong way. Grandchildren are even better anyway - you can give them back and spoil them as much as you like

Sounds like your dogs are coming along nicely, I keep forgetting and picking Tootsie up and letting her on the sofa must remember. I gave her a bath this afternoon so I have changed my avatar to reflect how she looks when she is clean - only lasted 5 minutes though and she had a dog chew all over her mane On our walk tonight we did halt, sit and stay then I walked 10 paces with my back to her and she stayed put! it is definately starting to click with her. I had to pick her up though as a couple of springers were off lead and running around like mad enjoying themselves. They were'nt bothered with her but I was worried that she might run off so put her back on her lead and carried her for a bit

Hope tonight goes well - will update tomorrow on how we get on on our organised dog walk. Toots goes to a dog sitter as I really dont think she would get on well in kennels - costs a fortune but its only a few nights a month. We go camping in the summer so she can come with us, have'nt been abroad in years and dont miss it - just pray for good weather

Hope the dog walk went ok. It rained so much over night that all the fields around here were badly flooded. Hope you did'nt have to go countryside way? How many dogs were on the walk and was Tootsie ok with them?

Sounds like she is quite good with her training. I know what you mean about letting them up on the furniture. When l lay on the sofa this afternoon watching the motor racing, l am afraid that l did let them go to sleep on me! Part of me knows l should'nt let it happen and part of me loves it that they want to snuggle up to me. Yes Karen l know it is rack elevation and cold - but they look so cute!

Last night did not go as planned. DH watched a movie but l decided to go on my computer so l suppose by the time it was bedtime all 3 dogs had seen little of me and also had been sleeping most of the evening.

I did go down to settle them down but after a few minutes they started to bark. Now l would have been quite happy to let it go on as surely going down to them made their barking pay off. The bark - owners come running and so forth. Unfortunatelly DH got very agitated though about next door neighbour as he is a complete moron and has been moaning a lot about my mutts barking on a Sunday when l visit my Dad.

Hubby told him that so long as it was not after 11pm he did'nt have a leg to stand on. Now he is not speaking to us - the good thing about it is l don't have to put up with his pervy comments everytime l see him. (Actually that is exactly what l told him as well - so that might also explain why he is picking us up about the dogs!) Mind you l have put up with his comments for almost 20 years so all l say is - girl power or in my case - menopausal power!!!

Getting back to last night - the mutts decided to kick off just as we were hitting 11pm. l did'nt go right down the stairs just called from the top to say No enough be quiet and then went back to bed. Realised that it was Schmoo setting the others off so the next time l went down i called Schmoo then said No etc. He did actually stop and then all 3 settled down!

This morning it was no good - l had drunk loads of orange juice and like the orange - l was bursting. I just could'nt hang on any longer and then DH went after me. That was it - all 3 were awake and wanting out. I suppose it was quite light. I put them out - got them back in and decided to go back to bed but by then they definately wanted company. I was lucky as DH got up and l ended up going back to sleep.

I did feel very guilty though and having thought about it - they are just like babies and children and l owe it to them as their owner (mum) to look out for them. As DH says he is the cat person and l am the dog person. It's just l also like sleep.

I think the walks are going a bit better. Met 2 people l knew walking towards - agin did not have time to put all 3 back on leads without having a complete breakdown. The 2 little ones did bark and run towards them along with Seiger trying to keep up - l called them all to me and they trotted back but trotted off again. They were not aggressive so that is a good thing but l was not impressed that even though they knew l had chicken, they really wanted to investigate these people. When they drew level with me we all had a little chat and the dogs just mingled around us. I definately need to work on the recall and try and find somewhere where l can come across other people and mutts as the occassional meetings are too few and far between. Again if they looked on me as pack leader they would have obeyed me instantly. I did fleetingly think of turning round and running to make them follow me but l really need them to meet people. We have been isolated long enough.

I'm off now but before l go l just need to remind you that DH stands for Dear Husband and not Dick Head as my 27 year old uncouth daughter thought l had said. He may be a pain in the rear end at times but l would'nt go that far with him. ttfn xxx Kittysoo

do you go on MSN Kittysoo? DH is one of the abbreviations on there love the explaniation from your DD

Well the walk was erm....... eventfull it was a record turn out - over 25 dogs plus owners Tootsie was the only small dog so I hung back and didnt let her off lead straight away. It was on a beach and the rain stayed off but it was very windy. Anyway I let Toots off lead and she just played around me and we were playing with her ball and she decided to do her business. A few big dogs decided to 'play' but they were pouncing on her and as she is so little I am always worried about breaking bones. I was just shouting get them off her and managed to get in and pick her up - so I ended up carrying her after that as she was shaking. She did enjoy it and in future I will be more careful. This always happens when we go to the beach - I think It is because she is so small that the bigger dogs pick on her . It was lovely to see so many dogs enjoying their selves though and I met so many lovely people.
The other first today was her cage in the car - she still cryed in it but I felt safer having her in a cage in the car. The problem isnt the cage - she just doesnt like being apart from me in the car. She is better on straight roads but as soon as I go round a corner or roundabout she starts whining.
I have been really strong today and not let her up on the furniture but she did get carried a lot today so not so good there.
Im sure you will get there with the new night time routine when they realise who is boss It will pay off in the end.
We are going to meet a new petcarer tomorrow as Tootsies usual carer is busy over Easter weekend and I am going away. Im sure she will be fine with him but she gets over exited in new surroundings - she decided to do a pee when she met the last one
Good luck tonight

I would have been scared stiff that my dogs would start something if l had been on the beach. Schmoo is a real scaredy cat and Scamper has all the makings of being a dominent dog, whereas Seiger has just had a lifetime of playing with my late Lucy and they must have looked very intimidating to other dogs. It will be hard to change Seiger now but l am working on it. I would love to be able to walk with other dog walkers and see mutts just playing around.

I knw what you mean about Tootsie being small enough to break bones, When Seiger plays to rough with Scamper all l hear is screaching and yapping. He warns Seiger that he has been hurt and to be more gentle but the big beastie boy only knows one way to play and that is GS way!

Last night was brilliant not a peep out of them all night but Seiger barked at 6-15 this morning - l think that is when my neighbour went to work. I got up and after their ablutions we all crashed out on the sofa. Not the best start but l was too tired too care at that time of the morning!

This morning l was quite pleased as usually the moment l get the leads off the hooks, Scamper does a runner. Not today though - he stayed in the hall and after a bit of coaxing he came to over to me so that l could put the lead on. He is now enjoying his walks but does like to be in front so will definately have to work on that. I dread to think what sort of dog he would have turned out if l had taken the vets advice and kept him in! Probably one of those snappy Jack Russells we all have heard about.

You will never guess what l have just been offered? Well of course you won't.

When l got Scamper he was almost 15 weeks old. He had a brother that was promised to a groom that had been putting off collecting him. I said that if he did'nt want him in the next 24 hours l would take the brother too. Anyway by all accounts he still wanted him. Now it seems that he can't cope and has handed the pup back. She wants to know if l still want him! DH says no and l know it is the right decision. I would be completely out of my depth. I also feel a bit moree vindicated that all the problems with him were not entirely my fault. These poor pups were not introduced to anything until they were too old. I have a feeling that she will keep the pup herself. She can certainly afford too and by the looks of it she likes to go out with horses rather than dogs so they will just run around in the paddock. The boys Mum was actually very friendly.

Anyway got to go hope Tootsie likes her new carer. It is piece of mind when you know that they are safe and cared for. ttfn xxx Kittysoo

Hello ladies. Your both doing really well. It is hard not to give in to them so don't beat yourself up over it. As long as you remain consistent 90% of the time then you'll see a progressive improvement.
Yes I am a Dog behaviourist and rehabilitation specialist. I specialise in dog aggression which I find is almost always liked to miscommunication between human and dog. Leading to the balance of the pack being shoved out of keel.
I'm a firm believer that dogs come into our lives for a reason, and that reason is usually to show us our weaknesses and allow us to learn from them. I firmly believe that dogs mirror humans and if we look closley we can not only learn how to build an amazing relationship with our dogs but also enrich our human lives with strength and determination.
Go me and my new age speach!
I do have dogs, A Boerboel called Bruce and a "mute" called Louis. both are second hand dogs. Bruce ended up back at his breeders because his owners were emigratting. Louis came from the dogs home and was almost ferral. I don't like the term rescue, I feel it has a pity emotion attached. To enter into ownership of a dog feeling pity shows the dog weakness and the relationship is started on the wrong foot.
My dogs aren't pertect...YET!
Buce had very bad dog aggression when I got him five months ago and louis well what can i say is a mirror image of my son... " mental" He has energy that never runs out but given his start and the fact that he's at that awkward under one stage he's a good dog. I see him as a teenager, not sure of his path so trying every route possible. I always say it takes two years of hard work to get a good dog!!!

Bruce came to me a lovely dog but never the less a dominant natured one. I gave him an inch and he took a mile,, yes I should have known better because I did!
His dog aggression got worse so enough being enough through research I put into place the pack restructuring plan. It was hard and I detoured from time to time, through my own weakness. Eventually I demoted him and he's great. His bed is in the Kitchen as is louis. They can get on on the sofa and even the bed. However they only can do this when invited and because of the difference in behaviour I keep it to a minimun. They just except it and they don't mind know infact it's almost like Bruce breathed a huge si at jhaving the alphs role taken of his shoulders. They are more eager to please and generally well behaved. I have introduced this program to my clients and the rehabilitation time has halved. I nkow if you stick to this program the same will happen for you and your dogs.

Thanks Karen for your encouragement and telling us about your own experiencences.

When you said that dogs can be a mirror image of ourselves, it was an epipany moment for me.

To sum up all the behaviour of my pack in one - would be afraid of going out, scared of anything new, keeping others away from the pack. This is me to a T. I must be passing it on to them. To be honest l find walking the dogs stressful as l am always on the look out for trouble ( even though we hardly bump into a soul) - l must be passing this tension through to the dogs..

When l moved into this village nearly 20 years ago, l gradually became more isolated. I did'nt drive and always found money a struggle. l ended up with only a couple of real friends and the rest were more like aqaintances. I became almost happy if the children came home and stayed in. I loved weekends as that was when everyone was together. When they were away, l felt that l had lost control. Eventually l was diagnosed with depression and my daughter and l were both diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). My sister summed it up to me that l would drop the drawbridge when we were all home!

Anyway l can see that l have to be stronger and more open to things myself or the dogs will never move forward. They are carrying on physically what l feel mentally.

Onto happier things - last night the dogs slept most of the evening and yet they went to bed and did'nt make a sound till 6-15am. I definatly think that my next door neighbour goes out that time. DH got up today, as we have decided to take it in turns for the moment. I think that the boys have finally got the message!

Well l have a lot of thinking to do today and plan a few things out. This scaredy cat is going to reinvent her 9 lives into positive ones - justy have to work out how!

Thanks Karen will be back later or tomorrow xxx Kittysoo

ps - you are not Karen Pryor are you?