Didn't I predict the weather yesterday? It is Christmas winter wonderland day today to start our Holiday Month. Last year it was ice storm day on December 1st.
There is a problem with little dog Millie's slow toilet training. She wants to pee indoors or on the porch rugs, where things are perfect. Particularly looking out the dining room window towards the outdoors, satisfied she's close enough to the toilet facility. She is willing to pee out on the porch rugs out of the rain and snow.
There's lots of advice on toilet training dogs. I find there are numerous 'methods' of training.
The best known - positive reinforcement - reward the good behaviours with treats. I found a few more:
Clicker training - a device that makes a sharp noise to signal to the dog that a wanted behaviour is accomplished.
Electronic training - the electric collar that delivers a shock or a spray of citronella when the dog is not performing a desired task - especially barking and staying within boundaries at a distance. The dog across the street has a boundary system to keep her in the front yard.
Model-rival or mirror training - a person models the behaviour with the trainer rewarding or scolding them, and the dog acts as observer and learns to do it from modelling.
Alpha dog or dominance - relies on a dog's instincts in the pack - the person takes on the alpha role and the dog must always be in the submissive role - you go first - in rooms, out doors, etc.
Relationship-based - the owner reads the dog's body language what rewards motivate them and how to meet the dog's basic needs before each training session. This one seems a bit complicated to me.
Millie's been getting training at the dog socialization classes. Soon we'll move on to the direct dog training.
Here's our dog training joke of the day:
A man walks into a London pub clearly beaten down after a rough day. Barkeeper gets to talking to him and asks the man what he does.
"I'm the trainer for the Queen's pure breed corgis." the man replies.
"Well that seems like a pretty cushy job, why are you so distraught?" the barkeep asks.
"After so much in-breeding to keep the bloodlines pure, I'm working with some of the stupidest, most stubborn things on Earth." the dog trainer says.
"Ah, I can see how that'd be frustrating."
"You want to know the worst part of it all? The dogs aren't that bright either."
Here's Millie yesterday before she met snow for the first time this morning.
