Still a bit bite-y.
But Puusti is slowly learning how to dog in our family. Very slowly. He gets excited and bites a lot, so we have to "punish" him by removing our presence. At least though, he sits on command (most of the time), lets go of the toy (most of the time), comes when called (rarely) - and is making it through the night without having to be taken out to pee - which is a big win. He gets up early most days and needs to go straight out, but it is better than 3am.
He is also liking the ramp and platform I built for him so he can see out of the window. He goes up there and chills sometimes, just watching the world go past. The hope is that he will get used to seeing the movement of people and cars and he doesn't start barking at them. Until he gets all of his shots, he can't hang out with too many other dogs, so we haven't taken him for very long walks yet. We have a large yard that I fenced off for him though, so he gets plenty of exercise, but he isn't very good on the leash.
Who is?
The nicest thing however, is that Smallsteps has started becoming more responsible with him and is more comfortable taking care of things, like feeding and taking him out. We had several dogs as a kid, but we were in the country and had a large area just for the dogs, so never had to take them out walking on the street - so never had to pick up after the dogs either. This was a bit of a hurdle for Smallsteps to begin with, but we forced her to do it and she is now comfortable.
It annoys me when people don't pick up after their dog.
We have now got some gates in place so we can separate a space out for him if we aren't home, without the risk of him getting up to too much mischief. I made a decent one for the stairs that he can't get over, and he will still have a lot of room to roam, play and sleep. When we are home, we can also leave him in there for when we are eating, and he has become more used to spending some time apart from us as well, which is important for him to learn as we obviously can't be with him 24/7 for the next fifteen years, nor do we want him to get stressed when we aren't here.
I think that owning a pet comes not only with the responsibility of care, but the acceptance that the owner becomes the pet's whole life. It is a living thing, and when people neglect their responsibility and abuse the animal or reduce its quality of life, it shows a lot about the person. People who don't care for pets well, are terrible humans.
Terrible Humans.
I will repeat that, just in case.
Of course, there are some people who go to the other extreme, where their pet is their whole life too - which is pretty weird. I think a lot of people who don't have children end up in this "fur baby" mentality, where their whole life revolves around their pet. Maybe it is better that these people don't have children anyway, but still - pretty weird.
But I think for kids who are growing up, having the responsibility of a pet and having something alive that they care for, gets them more ready for the world, as they are forced to do things at times they don't want to do. They will also have to face the inevitable loss of something they love at some point too, which is a good lesson in and of itself.
Puusti will probably outlive me.
None of us are here forever, so we should probably think about how we treat each other also. We should probably all take some more responsibility for how we interact with others, and lose some of the expectation about how we believe we should be treated by others. At least, before feeling entitled to certain treatment, we should treat others the way we want to be treated first.
The golden rule seems to have been lost in today's society.
A lot of social ethics seem to be going to the dogs.
Taraz
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Puusti is very handsome. He'll bring a lot into your life.
He is a good looking dog. He probably knows it - which is why he thinks he can get away with all this bad behaviour.
Lily wants a dog. That will probably happen in a couple of years, when we move out of the space we're living in. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a dog, either. Though I do prefer cats.
Each animal should be treated according to their needs, taking into account their ability to take care of their needs themselves. That's where I don't make a distinction between humans and animals. Animals have more innocence though. I probably give them more slack because of that. But I still treat them like animals, just that I do not make a difference between cows, dogs, pigs, cats,... People sometimes mistake me being vegan with having to spoil all animals. But that's not good for anyone. And I want them to have a life. Just like for humans.
You're right. There are many analogies to explore.
I am a cat person for the most part, as they look after themselves more. However, it is also nice to have a dog that is able to be in the lap, but also go for a long walk.
Yes. And they didn't have any choice in whatever they do - they act on instinct- especially if not trained.
He is so cute!!!
I hired an expensive trainer for me with my aussie. At the first visit, I told her my goals were that the dog would stop jumping on my guests, that she would stop alert barking when I told her to, that she would walk nicely on a leash, and that she would come when called. She has not learned how to do a single one of these reliably, but she is still a very very good dog.
As much as I wanted a dog to teach my kids responsibility, I ended up doing just about everything for my previous dogs. But the love my kids felt for those animals was very valuable, too, so it was all good. They certainly learned how to nurture and not to hurt their dogs.
Enjoy the little guy. His name is Puusti?
Puusti comes from a Finnish bun Korvapuusti
Your first problem is
"I hired an expensive trainer for me with my aussie."
Aussies can't be trained.
There is a lot of this too, but Smallsteps is definitely taking on more of a role as she has got more comfortable with him. I am sure that soon she will be happy to be alone for longer periods with him.
I don't know about that. I am certain if I had persisted, and actually done the tasks we were presented with, she would have learned all of those things. They are all better, she just needs constant reminders not to jump, bark, heel. She comes eventually; I've learned to take high value treats with me and to walk her off leash while she is hungry. Then she comes like a charm! What aussies are really good at learning is games. She is amazing with balls, will fetch (sometimes), will stay in place (for a little while), can catch frisbees, and loves to tell me when my cats are misbehaving.
I am so happy for you all. A puppy/dog is necessary in every home if you ask me.
Oh, I meant Australians in general. Terribly disobedient culture, with every little care for authority.
They are good with games though!!
Oh! hahahahaha! Have I ever told you how bad I am at getting jokes! Now you've seen it first hand!
lol thanks for the belly laugh.
:)
I watched a video of a man's dog holding his legs when he was about to leave and people were commenting that it was not good to leave pets at home alone, they'd suffer from loneliness and it's true. Yet sadly, that's what many do. It's good you are taking care of yours, and Smallsteps is bonding and learning to take care of her pets herself.
I suppose having pets at a young age, helps them develop socially and emotionally and become more responsible.
It depends on the dog whether they are okay alone or not. For instance, ours already is happy to spend time downstairs alone, even if we are upstairs. He likes to sleep in a quite space. But, when he wants attention - he let's us know :D
In my opinion, when you pet, then treat them as a part of family rather than considering it just an animal. It is important to take care and help in their growth, a little careless may lead to unwanted consequences like aggressiveness or dullness.
This is an important lesson. People often miss out on this on each other. They are getting more into animal instinct than being a good human...Good to see the little pet mingling along nicely there.
Some people train their dogs to be aggressive, and then terrible things happen. Some of the dog breeds should be banned, as they are potential weapons.
Rottweiler / pit-bull I know...already seen their aggressive behavior...they are in their genes...hard to take away..they are silent predator. People pet them for status...but they lead adverse consequences. Already heard of many news
By training Puusti, I think you are also helping Smallsteps take on more responsibility. This is a important lesson for kids to understand how to care for pets. I believe one who grews up loving animals will be a harmless human ;)
Or a psycho who kills humans to return the world to the animals.
The part about pets being someone’s whole world really hit me. Too many people forget that when they take on the responsibility. How we treat animals says a lot about how we treat others, especially when no one is watching. The golden rule connection at the end was spot on.
When no one is watching, we find out who we are.
Anyone who’s had a puppy knows the bite-y phase is real 😅 Removing yourself instead of reacting is such a hard but smart lesson. That is a big win on sleeping through the night too, that alone feels like a miracle. I found that idea so brilliant, by the way.
I hope the phase doesn't last too long :)
We got lucky that our puppy grew out of the chewing on stuff phase on her own. I don't know how it is with smaller dogs, but they usually say dogs can go an hour without going pee per month they have been alive. Obviously up to a certain point. I mean, once they are three years old that doesn't mean you can leave them for a day and a half :)
We have the small human over currently, with their schnelpie, which is ABSOLUTELY not allowed on our bed.
Aaaaahhhhh he's soooooooooo cuuuuuuuuuuute XD
Love the platform idea though it may not stop him from barking at things once he gets to the age of "defend the territory". Hopefully he'll be like my current dog and only bark at unfamiliar things (she doesn't always bark at familiar things unless she notes someone coming and barks first before realising who it is, as she's barked at us coming home before and then kept barking coz I guess she was committed by then XD) and not like my last dogs two of which barked at anything and everything that might be moving outside and one that just barked because the other one was XD
Yay at least you're training him too. From what I can tell of middle telling me about her friends' reactions to our dog responding to commands it seems that a lot of people don't bother training small dogs coz they're tiny and cute and "doesn't matter" or "can't be bothered" because they're small.
We did not train Lata so she did not knew any of those tricks. Except asking to go outside. And she also sometimes did this:
I don't remember teaching her to do this. So I wonder how she came up with that idea.
Yes, having a pet is a huge responsibility and really good to teach kids to take responsibility for care of a living being.
Thanks