Hello Cindy.

27 Sep 07 11:09, you wrote to me:

 CH>  Cosmo will lick my ear if he has to go out, Abbie, my arm. I'm glad
 CH> they don't go for my nose  The very very first time Cosmo licked my
 CH> ear to wake me up (he was a pup and no longer needing the crate at
 CH> night)...  he SCARED me.. and I startled awake... I startled him too
 CH> and then I just cracked up laughing so I know he knew somehow he was
 CH> okay. Now Abbie and Cosmo both jocky for ideal spots on the bed. It's
 CH> kinda interesting how they work it out. A nice quiet way they do it.
 CH> Abbie isn't tooo bossy. She knows who the boss is and if I see her
 CH> bossing Cosmo cuz she LETS him, I tell her no. And then she's good.

I found two dogs are better than one. The alpha usually acts as a role
model. I have two dalmatians, now living with my "X". We had the
male first. The female was rescued and we introduced her to our home about
a year after the male. They did battle to determine the alpha, and the male
won, although had she been healthier it could have been the opposite. 
Anyway, the male taught her where to "make", what not to do in
the house, etc. He basically trained her for us. That was nice.

 CH> One thing she used to do is snatch Cosmo's treat at treat time. She
 CH> doesn't do that anymore. :) And at suppertime she often waits for him
 CH> to eat first ((not sure if this is a submissive act or she's just
 CH> waiting to see what he leaves behind so she can have more.) I've been
 CH> keeping an eye on this little scenario since it seems Cosmo has been
 CH> losing weight and she's gaining. So we now feed them a small portion
 CH> in the morning. Cosmo can't handle too much at once (about a 1/4 cup
 CH> at a time seems to be his fill. He eats about 3/4 cup total which is
 CH> what he needs to keep his weight healthy (about 20 lbs.)

My Yorkie eats about 1/2 cup of dry food a day. I leave his bowl on the
floor and he nibbles at it all day. I know that's not the correct method,
but what the heck. 

 CH> That too. :) But according to the dog experts dogs rely more heavily
 CH> on their sense of smell. The order is : Smell, sight, hearing. Note:
 CH> dogs are more apt to respond to a quiet calm verbal command then
 CH> angry screaming. Anger stimulates fear/aggression in some types but
 CH> will get you nothing at all by those dogs who are calm/assertive.
 CH> They'll see you as weak and they the pack leader.

Well, I believe you are correct, except for sight hounds, like dalmatians.
Their trained eye seems to be as good or better a sense than their sense of
smell.

 CH>  :( Well that may work with some dogs I guess but when Cosmo was a
 CH> puppy and I got angry at him for pooping in the family room and gave
 CH> him a little smack with the newspaper he just got sneaky and went off
 CH> into the living room instead. See? Anger only makes them sneaky... So
 CH> anyway he never went poop in the family room again but he did go up in
 CH> my daughter's room and got yelled at big time by her of course .. so
 CH> he knew finally with help from hubby the ONLY place to go was out
 CH> side. There we praised him. :)

 CH> There's this idea of correct (not punish but correct) the bad behavior
 CH> and praise the good. Praising the good often eliminates the bad. That
 CH> is if you dog or kid for that matter LIKES being praised. In some
 CH> types being bad is preferred so this wont work. :( They LIKE being
 CH> bad. .. Sad trip that. I guess then only negatives work there.

Freedom, my Yorkie responds very well to praise.  I have only had to use
the firm pop, once.  The rest was praise for continuing the correct
behavior.

 CH> You know what? When our dog shows fear , you're best off ignoring it
 CH> and acting cool/calm. This helps them do the same. THis is great.
 CH> Don't comfort the dog. It's not the same as with kids in this case.
 CH> The dog learns to be calm when we are too. :)
 CH> .........

Yep, I watch Ceasar Millan and have learned a lot from his shows. I have
never seen him house-train a dog though.  I ordered his second season on
DVD, but I haven't received it yet.

 CH>  Well before long somebody named Roger might suggest,
 CH>  hey why not take all this dog talk to DOGHOUSE? :) I think he doe
 CH>  carry it btw.

I'm hooked-up here now and copied our chat over from COFFEE KLATSCH.
BTW, Roger let me know he was the moderator here and you are the co-moderator.
Did you know that? 

Joe

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