We've taught him a few commands that he sometimes follows when either he feels like it, or there's a treat in it for him. He "comes" pretty consistently, except when he's outside, then he only has eyes for the dirt and plants. He'll sit for a treat. I'm currently trying to teach him "crate", so he'll go into his crate on command, but he doesn't trust me not to lock him in, so we haven't gotten far with that one yet.
His house training is going slowly, but when he's confined to his pen or the kitchen he goes consistently on his puppy pads, which is great. Although he did poop on his dog bed this morning. Ick. He apparently doesn't think the pee pads are for poops as well. He hasn't learned to let me know when he needs to go outside, but when I take him out and he needs to go, usually he will. Sometimes he'll get too distracted by things outside and pee right when he comes in (on his puppy pad). I don't feel like a lot of progress is being made, but hopefully in time he'll get better. He hasn't had a single accident in his crate at night, so that's an accomplishment I think.
He still doesn't play by himself very well. Actually, he'll do it fine as long as you're sitting right next to him, but as soon as you get up and walk away, he's done with whatever he was doing to entertain himself. It's sooo silly. We're getting a feel for how often we need to rotate out his toys. It looks like every 2-3 days. Man, what ADD! Hehe. Theo doesn't get tired, however, of his bully stick. I finally convinced Husband to get one and Theo looooooves it. Thanks to Ivy for the tip! I never would have known what gems they are.
We gave Theo his first bath over the weekend. He hated it. We tried to make sure the water wasn't cold, but either we failed or he was really scared because he was shaking like crazy. Next time we'll have to make it a bit warmer and see if that helps. Man, his fur was soooo soft afterwards! I wish he was always that soft. Hehe.We had a bunch of friends over on Friday and Theo was an absolute dream. He made us look so good! Hehe. He got to meet all kinds of new people including some kids. My friend brought his 8 month old baby over. He had her sitting on the ground which made me nervous because Theo can be a bit nippy and babies are delicate, but Theo was awesome. He came up to her slowly and ever so gingerly licked her fingers. Then she started crying. Apparently his licks are slimy. Hehe. It was so cute!
Of course, the next day it was like he forgot everything we ever taught him. His manners were worse than the first day we brought him home. Working with him over the last few days, I think he's making progress again.
By the way, there's some new pictures up on Flickr. How about that size limit per month? It's so small!
9 comments:
Wow, a bath already! He must love that dirt! Great to here about little Theo. (which in my head I have to stop myself from saying Tay-O because we have someone here at work named Theo who pronounces it that way.)
Wow, sounds like you're doing really well with Theo! Lucy has a mind of her own as well, and we didn't really teach her come, so she's a little difficult at times too. I don't know if it's us or Lucy, but this past week she's done much better with potty training. I can tell because when I go outside to pick up the poop, there's a lot more than I remember!
Well it was very rainy last week, so he got pretty dirty. We don't plan on over-bathing him, but I wanted him to experience a bath with us before he got too old, since this is supposed to be part of his prime development period.
Does Lucy spend time outside by herself while you are out at work? Unfortunately, we aren't able to leave Theo outside unsupervised yet for a number of reasons, so that might be slowing it down as well. The main thing is he hasn't learned to tell us when he needs to go outside and I just don't know how to teach him that. Ah well, hopefully he'll pick it up soon.
Lucy doesn't tell us when she needs to go out either. When she was very little, she slept in a crate in my room, and did two really quiet whimpers when she needed to pee. Lucy has a doggy door that goes to our back yard that she can go into when she's home alone. She poops outside now, but still pees in her ex-pen that's in the laundry room. She doesn't go far from the door, usually she just goes outside to sunbathe. She likes going out, but doesn't seem to realize that outside is potty area. She is getting better though. Funny we're talking about this, I think there was a mycorgi.com forum question about this topic today...
It took us MONTHS to housebreak Gonzo. I was told once a dog goes a month with no accidents, he can be considered housebroken, but Gonzo would get to the 3 week 6 day mark and he'd pee on the floor. He would do really well for a long time, and then he'd lose it for a few days. Just be patient and persistent.
Gonzo never told us when he wanted to go out either. Here is what would happen: He'd be involved in doing something (like playing or sleeping). He would suddenly stop doing it and run over to the door. There would be a trail of pee behind him, haha. Then, later on, he would just quietly sit by the door but not make any noise.
Eventually, we taught him how to ring a bell whenever he wants or needs to go out. It was a lifesaver.
Just keep a close eye on Theo. He may give off little signs of needing to pee. Try taking him outside every 2 hours, after he eats, and after he wakes up. Those are the two key times when he will almost always have to go. And get really excited when he goes outside. Jump around and praise him and play with him or give him a treat. These were all the things that helped us.
By the way, Jenna, I've never heard it pronounced Tay-O before. Hehe. I sometimes say it like Deee-O, which is funny because my friends have a rabbit named Dio, and apparently Theo looks alike like her, especially from the back with his bunny butt. Hehe.
In terms of house training, Nickel, I've thought about the bell, but I worry that Theo will just ring it everytime he wants to play outside. Right now everytime he sits by the door it usually just means he wants to play. I read the 2 hour and after meals and play rule, but it's hard to overcome my laziness and business. I mean, that's taking him out like 12 times a day! That takes time, and I'm supposed to be working. But you're right, I should just swallow my laziness and do it.
Lynn, you're so lucky you live in a space that lets Lucy go out whenever she wans to. My backyard goes straight to my front area, which has a gate to the street that I'm not allowed to lock. Lame! Anyway, Theo likes to try and eat woodchips and plants, so I don't think I would trust him outside anyway.
I just brought home a little corgi girl Sunday. I'm going to love following your blog!
Oh, she has the same birthday as mine! She's so cute! I hope you'll comment here on little Edie news as well! :)
Ahh! Cute puppy in the tub!
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