Updates on Hendrix
Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 6:39 am
So a quick aside on Hendrix AKA Felon.... He's 9 months and officially a PITA teen. You'll frequently hear me threatening to take up more serious drinking and coming up with delightful nicknames that aptly describe how much of a derp he's being at any time. But in all seriousness I love this dog.
His fearfulness around strangers and men is almost completely gone. I wish I could say it was all me but it wasn't. A lot of training, a long break, and then him maturing helped. We were able to take him to his first big festival a few weekends ago where the only things he freaked out on was the live music, a suddenly wall of people where you could only stand shoulder to shoulder, and two asshole dogs. Not a single person got a snarl or growl. He will still try to go off on someone at random, mainly because they insist on meeting him or run out of treats, but a sharp "no" from me turns him off. He's now more interested in other dogs than people which is great. He is still protective of me as ever and will now check up on me or come and retrieve me if he thinks there's an intruder, and maybe will listen if I give the okay.
As for the crate... Well, I'm at a loss. He got marginally better before an accident (he peed in his crate - my bad I forgot how much water he had had before crating him and mistimed my arrival home) so he's been in his old plastic crate instead of his wire one. And not a peep. No howling and screaming. Just whines when he wants to come out. I'm testing to see if he tires of this and the attention seeking begins again.
We're currently learning to bark on command and walk politely on a leash. After several broken collars and escapes he's on a fursaver for all outdoor time and we're transitioning him from harness to that. His impulse control is getting better every time we head out. The only heeling he does is an attention heel and we both trip on branches and the sidewalk so I'm settling for not pulling me down the street like a wagon. His obedience is good and we're almost ready to start learning recalls on an ecollar (vibrate function only) so I can trust him a tad bit more off leash in fields. There was a Rabbit Incident I prefer to never remember again.
Now for his Felon name.... His breeder once told me he was going to call him that because he bites. Well he forgot to mention he was a kleptomaniac too. Anything and everything has recently become Hendrix's new item. My shoes. My blanket (found a hole while snuggling deeper into it this morning; I now have a Queen sized snuggie). Treat bags. Kitchen utensils. Plates. Wireless mice. My underwear (he's peed on a new bra of mine in front if neighbors). Flour containers. Flower pots. Books. And my all time favorite, his leash collection - he got so tangled up in it he was trying to figure out how to run with two legs. He stealthily sneaks up to said item of his choosing, grabs, and runs. And there is no catching him. He leaps the couch and ottoman in one bound and acts like it's his own personal hurdle. It's insane. And commands are optional at this time. He'll maybe trade you for a treat. Maybe. If he's growing bored. If you ignore him he'll taunt you and if you still don't respond he'll spirit away the item somewhere and good luck finding it. So we're trying to deal with his kleptomania which thankfully only appears at home. He also has a theme song to go along with his new Felon persona.
Other then him magically managing to lock himself in the car while it was running (AC on thank goodness) for three hours and that time the cops pulled over to watch a conversation I had with him about not eating road kill, which involved high pitch squeaks, arm flailing, snorts, Chewbacca groans, belly rub asking, threats of alien abductions, and a rendition of "Let It Go" and "Hit Me Baby One More Time", life has been the constant catching up whirlwind of trainer fails and DS madness. But I love him and love seeing him grow and mature. He's going to be one heck of a cool dog when he's an adult. Until then he's my darling asshat because he still shoves his butt up on you to show affection - or in my case in my face. But together we're just a whole whirlwind of derp.
His fearfulness around strangers and men is almost completely gone. I wish I could say it was all me but it wasn't. A lot of training, a long break, and then him maturing helped. We were able to take him to his first big festival a few weekends ago where the only things he freaked out on was the live music, a suddenly wall of people where you could only stand shoulder to shoulder, and two asshole dogs. Not a single person got a snarl or growl. He will still try to go off on someone at random, mainly because they insist on meeting him or run out of treats, but a sharp "no" from me turns him off. He's now more interested in other dogs than people which is great. He is still protective of me as ever and will now check up on me or come and retrieve me if he thinks there's an intruder, and maybe will listen if I give the okay.
As for the crate... Well, I'm at a loss. He got marginally better before an accident (he peed in his crate - my bad I forgot how much water he had had before crating him and mistimed my arrival home) so he's been in his old plastic crate instead of his wire one. And not a peep. No howling and screaming. Just whines when he wants to come out. I'm testing to see if he tires of this and the attention seeking begins again.
We're currently learning to bark on command and walk politely on a leash. After several broken collars and escapes he's on a fursaver for all outdoor time and we're transitioning him from harness to that. His impulse control is getting better every time we head out. The only heeling he does is an attention heel and we both trip on branches and the sidewalk so I'm settling for not pulling me down the street like a wagon. His obedience is good and we're almost ready to start learning recalls on an ecollar (vibrate function only) so I can trust him a tad bit more off leash in fields. There was a Rabbit Incident I prefer to never remember again.
Now for his Felon name.... His breeder once told me he was going to call him that because he bites. Well he forgot to mention he was a kleptomaniac too. Anything and everything has recently become Hendrix's new item. My shoes. My blanket (found a hole while snuggling deeper into it this morning; I now have a Queen sized snuggie). Treat bags. Kitchen utensils. Plates. Wireless mice. My underwear (he's peed on a new bra of mine in front if neighbors). Flour containers. Flower pots. Books. And my all time favorite, his leash collection - he got so tangled up in it he was trying to figure out how to run with two legs. He stealthily sneaks up to said item of his choosing, grabs, and runs. And there is no catching him. He leaps the couch and ottoman in one bound and acts like it's his own personal hurdle. It's insane. And commands are optional at this time. He'll maybe trade you for a treat. Maybe. If he's growing bored. If you ignore him he'll taunt you and if you still don't respond he'll spirit away the item somewhere and good luck finding it. So we're trying to deal with his kleptomania which thankfully only appears at home. He also has a theme song to go along with his new Felon persona.
Other then him magically managing to lock himself in the car while it was running (AC on thank goodness) for three hours and that time the cops pulled over to watch a conversation I had with him about not eating road kill, which involved high pitch squeaks, arm flailing, snorts, Chewbacca groans, belly rub asking, threats of alien abductions, and a rendition of "Let It Go" and "Hit Me Baby One More Time", life has been the constant catching up whirlwind of trainer fails and DS madness. But I love him and love seeing him grow and mature. He's going to be one heck of a cool dog when he's an adult. Until then he's my darling asshat because he still shoves his butt up on you to show affection - or in my case in my face. But together we're just a whole whirlwind of derp.
