Show off your pets thread

[Magyarman]

Shorty is the 16 1/2 yo tripod. Penny is the spoiled beagle.

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by MuseChaser

Just a few more observations on training, after coming in from working with our Kelpie for an hour or so outside...

That's a great reminder of what I should be doing with my dogs at home but have become lazy over the years from working with dogs at the Humane Society.

There, the goal is to rehome the dogs ASAP and we do, averaging 14 days before adoption. The typical surrender dog is an out of control year old black Labrador Retriever (about half the population, so many that we have Black Friday sales twice a year) that hasn't been trained, the reason they wind up there. So we concentrate on the basic commands using too many treats and long leashes and in two weeks they're qualified to become semi-civilized family companions.

I don't train using the HS methods with our companion dogs at home. No treats, only positive reinforcement with mixed results dependent on how often I reinforce training, or I'll wind up with a fat dog that won't respond consistently without treats. But that's life with a Spitz breed.

Some exciting news on the home front is that our new puppy was born last week. We won't know which one until the breeder narrows the choice based on health and temperament. If he passes training and certification classes, at maturity he'll become a therapy dog at a children's cancer hospital in Portland after we retire our current dog, another Finnish Spitz.

Here's the two day old litter, all boys. We'll be driving to Saskatchewan in late September to bring him home.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Atmo

I don't train using the HS methods with our companion dogs at home. No treats, only positive reinforcement with mixed results dependent on how often I reinforce training, or I'll wind up with a fat dog that won't respond consistently without treats. But that's life with a Spitz breed.

I feel this so bad.. I'll readily admit that I don't track how many treats that I give. At least, not a specific amount. I usually just go by "have I given too much today?"

Usually for a training session I try to only use one treat, broken up into like 7-8 pieces. Works well enough. Occasionally I'll use 1/2 of a second one. Just depends on how training is going. But I do worry "wtf am I doing, is Haru going to get fat from this??" lol.

Fortunately he does sometimes do tricks/commands without treats but I need to keep working on decreasing how often I give a treat for a reward so that he doesn't always expect it.

Also, congrats on the pup! We will be expecting more photos, of course.

[dpfarr]

I met a Finnish Spitz puppy up in Alaska last month. Such a fun little dog.

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by dpfarr

I met a Finnish Spitz puppy up in Alaska last month. Such a fun little dog.

Very cool. They're clowns, especially the Canadian dogs bred for a softer temperament than the Finland bred dogs where they're used mostly for upland bird hunting. We've had one of each and they were complete opposites.

Here's a video of Finnish Spitz showing their unique hunting skills.

Edit: The Finn dogs are renowned for their barking ability. They have an annual King Barker contest in Finland. Our Finn dog had an unusual talent as a mole catcher. Our neighbor borrowed him to run around his pasture eliminating the moles so his horses wouldn't step into a mole hill and injure themselves. Our Canadian dog is happy treeing squirrels and is quieter.

[spike021]

Working on a trick combo today:

https://i.imgur.com/ZGi6qIY.mp4

I guess I should explain since it lost the audio.

He's in his default sit position when he knows we're about to practice. I say to "stand" (get on all fours), then have him do "around" twice, which is a counter-clockwise circle, then I have him sit, lay down, and then "wait" until I say "OK!". It's hard to know whether he's "learned" one, like "around", but the way I know he's learned that one is that if I say "around" and then do the clockwise movement, then he has no clue what to do lol.

[Atmo]

One of his treasures, a 10 year old sock he swiped from his Mommy.

[spike021]

Haru was taking his morning nap. I made some noise and checked the webcam. He was awake in the crate. So I figured it's been two hours, he's awake, I'll take him out for potty time.

So I open the crate door. He starts his usual stretch after he's been sleeping for a while, and then:




Fortunately he still woke up within a couple minutes but that was funny.

[dpfarr]

My work lizard.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by dpfarr

My work lizard.

Is just a bunch of branches. I'm probably missing something.

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by spike021

Fortunately he still woke up within a couple minutes but that was funny.

Hey, when you need a nap...

When my current dog was a puppy he used to fall asleep while walking and hit the deck asleep. I though he had narcolepsy or something but it was just one of his quirks that he outgrew after a few months.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Atmo

Hey, when you need a nap...

When my current dog was a puppy he used to fall asleep while walking and hit the deck asleep. I though he had narcolepsy or something but it was just one of his quirks that he outgrew after a few months.

Human puppies have been known to do basically the same thing.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Human puppies have been known to do basically the same thing.

I still do it.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Atmo

Hey, when you need a nap...

When my current dog was a puppy he used to fall asleep while walking and hit the deck asleep. I though he had narcolepsy or something but it was just one of his quirks that he outgrew after a few months.

Haru will play hard for a while and then once he calms down a bit, he'll just let his legs crumble to the floor from exhaustion and then he pretty much knocks out lol.