Chloe first training session..

[corneliusmom20]

So this morning I decided to take chloe and sam to the park.

I bought a little blue wagon a while ago...i bought it for this sole purpose.
Well...needless to say, Chloe's afraid of the wagon..lol

On cement, she doesn't like the rumble of the wagon..but on grass, it doesn't bother her.
So onto grass we go, well until the tire got stuck in a hole and the wagon tipped over and Chloe went nuts.....what an adventure
After that, she did really well....pulling like a natural.
Then my other dog, Sam a shih tzu, got tired..so i put him in the wagon and Chloe pulled Sam home.
haha i should've brought my camera, it was a hilarious sight.

So any other tips on getting her customed to the rumble noise of the wagon??
It seems this type of exercise really tires her out

[stalk]

Those of us with sled dogs typically hook up a gallon milk jug to them and let them run around. Eventually they get used to it, then add a small 4x4 wood. By this time they should be oblivious.

Try to make sure you have a pulling harness. The harnesses you get from Petsmart Petco etc are not meant for pulling, and can cause body damage over a long term use.

[corneliusmom20]

Where do i get a pulling harness??..

I know which ones you're talking about, but im not sure where to get it.

[corneliusmom20]

I just ordered a Medium-Large X-back harness.

I hope that'll be the right size...I ordered it from Tanzilla Harness Supplies in Whitehorse,Yukon.

Also on a side note, ive gone back to crating Chloe.
She's exercised reguarly, but she's eating everything in sight...whether its edible or not. She ate cling wrap...and now has the "runs".
Am i doing the right thing Stalk??
I just don't know what ot do anymore.

[stalk]

Originally Posted by corneliusmom20

I just ordered a Medium-Large X-back harness.
I hope that'll be the right size...I ordered it from Tanzilla Harness Supplies in Whitehorse,Yukon.
Also on a side note, ive gone back to crating Chloe.
She's exercised reguarly, but she's eating everything in sight...whether its edible or not. She ate cling wrap...and now has the "runs".
Am i doing the right thing Stalk??
I just don't know what ot do anymore.

How old is Chloe?

Is Chloe eating everything in sight while you are home, or while you are gone? If it's while you are gone, it's a owner-absent problem. With owner-absent problems, the best method of training is to train yourself to prevent it before it happens.

I need to know what kind of things she's chewing, where she is getting the stuff to chew, and so on.

If she is chewing stuff while you are home, then she needs to be taught the appropiate things to chew. The thing here is most people will correct the dog for chewing things. This correction, while preventing the issue from happening while you are there, will inevitably create owner-absent chewing issues. The dog does not learn that chewing on this is bad, it learns that chewing on this while you are around is bad, but it is OK while you are gone.

So what you want to do is to replace what she is chewing with the appropiate chew toy (Nylabone, rope toy (supervised), Kong, and so on). It is not a quick fix, in fact, it may take months, but you will have a happier dog and the likelihood of her chewing while you are gone is reduced.

Now, if she is chewing while you are gone, the best method is going to be crating her. You need to set her up for success, and by letting her loose where all these interesting chewable things are around, she is only going to reinforce herself every time she chews. So until you can reinforce that the other stuff is more appealing to chew, you will have difficulties.

One thing you must understand is that a dog spends 90% of it's waking time searching for food. When you take that away from a dog, what does he have left? Little else. So destructive behaviors are formed. What I did with Light and Dark, and what I do with Ollie and Kobe (when I fed them kibble) is that I have about 15 large Kongs. I get them all, plug the small hole on the top. then i mix the kibble with some water, and pour it into the kong. Some kibble gets mixed with yogurt (unsweetened) and some get mixed with peanut butter. It all goes into a tray.

Then I place it all in the freezer. Freeze overnight. In the morning, I will give them their kongs.

Given dogs are active during the dawn and during dusk properly exercised, what happens is when I leave for work at 6am, the dogs usually ignore the food for a bit. Around 7am, they start waking up and grabbing their food. they will work on it until about 9am, play with each other, and so on. by 10-11am, they are asleep during the day (as dogs are naturally meant to do.)

When i get home around 4pm, they are just barely waking up. I give them the rest of their meal in kongs, and they work on it until about 6-7pm. Then we go for their runs, play, do training. by 9pm they are just about getting ready for bed.

As you can see by this schedule, they have very little time to get in trouble. Most of their time is spent getting food, as it should be. So they are mentally stimulated, physically stimulated, and content dogs.

Do you want her to have free roam? Then you need to restrict her for a while. Crate her, do the kong method. after a few weeks, give her one room access, continue kongs. slowly build her up until she has house access. If she gets destructive, reduce freedom. Slowly but surely she will get used to it.

Hope this helps! I know it's a long answer, but your question has no simple answer.

[Xeikeness]

Excellent reply. You covered all the points I had in mind.

Kongs are a fantastic toy. I personally keep my house littered with bones. Baked cow femurs, baked and bleached cow bone bits, nylabones, and even the "stuffed" bones you see at Petco.

My favorite thing to do for bored-during-the-work-day dogs, was to take half their ration of kibble and spread it out through the kongs, like Stalk suggested, and a handful of the rest of their food and hide it throughout the house in places that would require a dog to use his brain, but not his mouth, to get to. Under tables blocked off with chairs, under the armoir, under the coffee table, behind the lamp-table, etc. and scatter some just around the floor. Sure keeps a dog busy.

Also, a couple really fun toys I found were the "talk-to-me treat ball" where you record your own voice, or any noise at all, saying something. Then you pack it full of easily-tumbled-out treats, turn it on, and leaves it on the floor. Whenever the dog touches it, it says the phrase or makes the sound. When the dog rolls it, treats fall out.

For a more complex toy, consider the Buster Cube. It has various levels of difficulty, and can function even after aggressive chewing. The more the dog tumbles, the more likely it is a treat will fall out of it. a treat will not always fall out, so the dog has to keep tumbling and rolling it around. My dogs loved that thing. I still have it, somewhere. It got "lost" when we moved. :\

[corneliusmom20]

Thanks for your help everyone.

Well, Chloe is now crated when i go to work. She was getting into things that would hurt her (plastic bags), so i decided to bring the crate out again.
She has been a happy dog since the crate made its appearance. Even though, today she did steal food from the counter as i was making lunch. I turned around for 2 seconds...and poof..it was gone.

The schedule i made for her in the morning was...
I get up at 530..and its her pee time, then i bring her back in...at 6am im about to leave for work..i give her a smallbowl of water in her crate and a small bowl of breakfast (kibble).
When i get home at 430, sometimes the kibble is still in the bowl...i think she may bet stressed out and doesnt want to eat.
I gave her a kong filled with peanut butter before, and it was still full when i got home. So she does have anxiety.
But she is getting better in general.
I'm still waiting for her harness to come in because i want to start training with her.

Thanks so much everyone