Brace Yourself...

[SincereArtisan]

Because this face is simply undeniable:

 

 

 

Fae is doing well. My girls are adjusting to her rambunctious play-play-play-omgplay! behavior...if a bit grudgingly, lol. I cycle the dogs playtime out of their crates so that the puppy is not always out with them, and they are not always the ones out with her. This helps so that there is no ganging up on any particulars.

 

She has taken very decently to leash training. After one trip around the block, she was walking loose-leashed on my right side. After the second trip, she was at a loose heel. She picked up sit and down quick, as we practiced those tonight as well. She has swiftly caught on to "Aah ah!" meaning NO, and her submissive peeing has been receding a bit...I had a guy friend over tonight, and from the start I directed him to let her come to him, to not get excited, no leaning over her and no eye contact until she is comfortable with you. I let her out, and sure enough, Fae hops right up in his lap and showers him with kisses, astounding me. She didn't once shy and tinkle from his playing with her, or petting on her, or playfully shoving her around. The few times she has done it with me--when I've grabbed her collar real quick to stop her from going after a cat, putting on a leash, leading her to another room--I've ignored it, broken eye contact, and continued doing what I was doing--and she snaps out of it just fine, like its no big deal. Ignoring her overzealous greetings for the first several minutes when I come home and let them out helps, too. I wait until she has calmed a bit before greeting her.

 

One thing I am trying to plan out training into her is an off switch. I was wondering what has worked for you guys in the past? Its been a couple years since puppies abounded here, and though I don't think I recall Ido ever being this bouncy, I may just be blocking it out. But this little girl wants to play play play the day away...i think most of it can be attributed to her lack of attention and guidelines in her last home. She's learned a TON in the two days she has been here. The method I'm considering using is leashing her to me at the point I need her to relax, and just reinforcing that she stay near, lay down, and provide something nice to chew on or keep her occupied. I'm planning on these episodes to be around 15 minutes at the begining, with no distractions, and then extending the time period and later the level of distractions gradually. When we learn to down/stay, it will be a good practice routine.

 

"Whassat you say? I learned tings?"

 

She really is a joy, and I wish there were some way to convince the SO that we really must keep her...I mean, really--look at that face!

 

 

[theshine]

I love her! If I hadn't just adopted an aussie puppy I would totally take her off your hands. I'm hoping you can keep her though...

[Dixie_Girl]

If I didn't have Holly, I'd be snapping her up in a heartbeat! She is so dang cute!

 

For her off switch, teach her what ever word you want for the command, when she doesn't calm down, crate her for a bit. Then let her out. Also, when she is being quiet, give that command and let her know she's doing good. Good luck!

[PSmitty]

The method I'm considering using is leashing her to me at the point I need her to relax, and just reinforcing that she stay near, lay down, and provide something nice to chew on or keep her occupied. I'm planning on these episodes to be around 15 minutes at the begining, with no distractions, and then extending the time period and later the level of distractions gradually. When we learn to down/stay, it will be a good practice routine.

 

That sounds good, and crate time outs to settle her down, too. Good luck, she's a doll face!

[mbc1963]

Oh, she's too much!

 

The other day, I was out walking my dog with my sister and her dog in an open, snowy field. I called my dog playfully to me, with my human version of a "play bow," and he came charging at me in his fast, happy run. Zoomed right past. My sister turned to me and said, "Remember when he used to run straight into your knees?"

 

I had completely repressed that. How on the first weekend I had him, the dog barreled into my right knee, putting me down and almost making me go to the doctor. I bought one of those OTC knee braces as well as a cane (for $1 at an elderly person's yard sale), and after a couple weeks was fine. But I had to turn sideways and squat protectively and hold out my arms and yell "NO!" for a month or six weeks until Buddy figured out that smashing into my legs wasn't OK. Plus, there were weird hyped up behaviors like the rotational zoomies: spinning around and around and around in my living room for four or five minutes. Scary to watch. (I think the spinning was because he'd been kenneled for so long - he actually kind of processed the "I can run straight if I want" after a couple days walking off leash in the woods.)

 

I remember desperately reading about the "off switch" when I was in those first few weeks, but don't remember specifically training it. I think one thing that helped was requiring a "sit" every single time the dog wanted to do anything fun: go outside, get his dinner, play ball. The sit forced a rather calm, normal posture on him. Eventually, he started to do it as a 'please,' to get what he wanted. "Lie down" is my current cue that we're done with what we were doing, and it's time to be calm.

 

Good luck. She's such a darling!

 

Mary

[MaggieDog]

I tried to post last night but my internet connection went down. Soooo...here's the post from last night lol.

 

OMG what a cutie!

 

Two things on the off switch:

 

1. I've found that my fosters coming out of situations where they were given little human interaction and exercise often are super ramped up for a week or two before settling into what is normal activity-wise for them. My Z is a great example of this: she was a holy terror who never stopped moving for the first two weeks, but then got into the routine and has been great ever since! She's got a heck of an off switch and is perfect for my somewhat crazy schedule/life.

 

2. Crating has done wonders for all the fosters I've had that needed to learn about "off switch" behaviors. My general MO for that is just scheduled crate time several times a day, each time for anywhere between 1 and 4 hours depending on my needs, and whenever they get too rambunctious. Tethering her to you might work, but it's also a lot more likely you'll have more unwanted behavior to deal with since she'll be more exposed to exciting stimuli than in a crate. No matter what you do though, rewarding and encouraging calm behaviors with a low key reward (relatively boring food or toy) or food dispensing toy can only work in your favor as long as you still work in times where she must be on her own completely for periods of time (such that she can be comfortable away from you and without having something to "do" all the time).

[Ninso]

She is very cute! I have a foster with no off switch right now. She's actually been in foster care since she was about 8 months old and is now a little over a year. She runs in circles around the house constantly. I've tried sitting and watching TV with her on leash (with the expectation that she lay quietly) but to no avail. She spends the time try to jump on me, lick me, chew on things, run around (even though she has about 2 inches of leash to deal with). It was no fun. When she gets to be too much I just stick her in her crate and she usually falls asleep. I don't think she realizes how tired she is, just like a toddler. She seems to be getting better as she gets older and matures. A couple times in the past few weeks she has actually fallen asleep on the floor OUT OF her crate. This was a huge deal since I'd never seen her do it before! It usually only happens on the weekends though, when she is able to get about 10 hours of playtime in or when we go to flyball or do something else really mentally tiring.

[SincereArtisan]

Well, one blessing is that she likes her crate. She's been settling in it easier and easier, with less whining. However, she will carry on if there is not another dog in the dog room crated with her...I plan on getting her used to being crated alone in the room here in a couple weeks, when she is more comfortable. For now, when I cycles dogs in and out of crates, there is always one left in the room with her.

 

I'll try the crating to aid in her calming down a bit. In the meantime, I'll work on common commands, and we have a nice long one-on-one leash walk once a day to help exert some energy and bond a bit. I look forward to updating you guys on her progress here in a couple weeks.

[bc4ever]

You know, I wish I could remember how I taught Scooter to use his "off switch." Geez...it's only been four years..you'd think I'd remember. I think we were playing ball and I just said "Time out," and used the hand signal for "T", like they do in football and he seemed to get it immediately. Since then, whenever we want him to calm down we either say the words or use the "T" sign. He drops whatever he's doing and lays down. It's fun to do that when we have guests. They can't believe he can go from warp speed to zero with just a little signal from me.