Long did I dream about having a dog, but I waited until I retired so I could be home to love and train one. I picked a Corgi since they are long-lived and not too big and have the happiest grin most of the time. My dream dog turned out to be an independent thinker!
Thursday! September 5, 2013 (Happy Birthday, Sis!)
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone in IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news! IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime!
Ok, we do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
"I will have to think about what you want me to do!"
My dog Diesel doesn't sit at my knee and await my command. He thinks carefully before doing anything I ask, and makes requests when HE is ready to do something. I have managed to get him to do a few tricks for a food reward.
My partner didn't teach him to speak when it is time to make the last potty run of the night, instead he taught him to say "out". If partner forgets, I will hear a quiet "ooow?, ooow?" next to my head in the middle of the night. He only makes that sound for potty.
"Maybe I can run away from that chewed-up sock!"
He also has a behavior we call a "guilt run". When he has had a little time to remember he shouldn't be chewing on a sock, or something he liberated from the trash, he starts running from one end of the house to the other, back and forth, until we catch on and "punish" him.
"Did you forgive me yet for being naughty?"
He used to get put on the landing behind the basement door when he was naughty, kind of like time out from his "herd". Now he tells us he has been naughty, so we take him to that door, use the "What did you do?" voice and shake a finger at him. Then we let him go to his safe spot for a minute and after that, he is called and "forgiven".
I read that Corgis don't train well with negative punishments, and I believe it. If he has actually been bad, he will hide and feel guilty for hours unless we "forgive" him. We don't want him to feel sad, he is our happy companion! Now that he is three, he doesn't do very much that is naughty, except if there is something that smells really interesting in the trash; he just can't help himself, I suppose. He grew up with basement cats, and learned how to act from them!
"Basement Cat told me the best spot is up on the couch!"
"You have learned my lessons well, little corgi!"
I taught him a useless trick that seemed a natural for him; for a treat, he will turn in a circle. Corgi's aren't great at fetch or sit up, but boy oh boy, can they go around in circles! He will also lay down and roll over, and "go the other way" if we are out on the leash and he gets "stuck" on the other side of an object, he reverses direction and gets "not stuck" if I tell him to "go the other way".
I haven't had a dog in my home for a long time, but I love this silly, happy, woozle and the way he keeps my spirits up.
"Almost anything makes me happy, even snow!"
What kind of tricks do your pets to do?