December 9, 2007
-
Training of Baron Begins, The Puppy and Christmas Lights
Baron turned six months old on the 9th and has become a sort-of teenager in the doggie world. This time period lasts about six months or more from what we have been told, learned from other dogs we’ve owned and the vet’s warnings.
Baron is the second male doberman that we have owned. The first was named Damien and he was aptly named. He was more attached to my son, Mark, than anyone else in the family. He was, primarily, a very good watch dog when we lived in a changing neighborhood. My son adored him and Damien would protect my son and play with him but gently. He (Damien) and Mark would often raft down the canal in back of our house on a floating dock. The canal was not deep so Mark used a long pole to raft them. I still have the cutest picture of them on the makeshift raft. He was, however, a red doberman and in high demand for breeding. His lines were excellent and so was his lineage. We ended up selling him to a breeder after about two years because he was becoming a bit uncontrollable when ANY female dog was in heat. They must be able to *smell* it for miles. He broke through our screened patio with no problems and we were tired of our local police coming to the house for one of us to fetch him home. My son, I think, never really forgave us for that but we both worked long hours at the time and he needed more attention and training than we were able to provide.
Baron has reached that stage in his life where he now is constantly *testing* us and we have to prove that we are the ALPHA figures in this household to a dog that we knew when we bought him was a dominant-type personality. He is already 24 inches at the shoulder, his chest has broadened, his neck requires an 18 inch collar and he is over 60 lbs. He appears to be heading towards a maximum shoulder height of 28 inches and will be between 75 and 80 lbs when he finally reaches maturity (if I let him live that long!). Dobermans do not reach maturity until they are between 18 months and 2 years old.
He is very playful but can be defiant if he is not ready to stop. He recently started NOT coming when called and will not only run away but he actually will hide on us as if it were some game. He also started something new and that is trying to eat the food in our hands or on the table. He stopped trying for food on the table by his own actions. We had more than half a large pizza on the table in it’s box. I was at my computer and so was the hubby. It wasn’t until the Beast went to get himself another piece of pizza that he discovered the pizza was gone. I mean there wasn’t so much as a crumb left. He came in to ask me if I had possibly put it away but I was totally shocked. We found a little pizza sauce on the floor and you could tell the box had been nudged open and also was closer to the edge of the table from when we had closed it. Why did Baron stop trying for food on the table? He got a tummy ache from the pizza. I mean he felt so rotten after eating all that pizza that he was *off* his food for two whole days. He had to have made the connection because when I made a homemade pizza last night, he actually went and laid down in his crate when he smelled it.
We have never fed him food off our plates. He doesn’t get leftovers unless I cut up some leftover meat and add small amounts of it to his kibble. We have always used Natura puppy food mixed with brown or white rice, cooked carrots and cut-up chicken. He has the most wonderful coat on him and it shines with good health. The luster alone impresses people that see him.Since the pizza episode, he will smell what we have in our hands if we happen to be on the couch or in the recliner but he won’t go near the food when we sit at the table. Some lessons are hard ones I guess, even in the doggy world.
We did break down and buy a dog training book and it gives us access to online videos of the training techniques outlined in the book. We also purchased what is called a *pinch* collar that looks like a torture device when it’s on his neck. It does NOT ever tighten up like a choke collar thank goodness. It’s designed to mimic what the mother dog’s do or the alpha male does in a pack when they do not like their behavior. We found that it takes just a tiny, quick tug and the behavior immediately stops and the dog becomes submissive. It’s the most amazing thing I have seen. It’s not something you can KEEP on the dog since the *teeth* would be both uncomfortable and, perhaps, dangerous when the dog lays with his head down. It is ONLY used during training sessions or when you want to break him of a bad habit (like jumping up on people). I will keep you apprised of how the training goes.
I told you about the puppy that the Beast found and brought home to feed. It was really a cute little female that desperately needed someone to love and love it. Baron was so excited at first because he thought he had a new playmate. She, however, was so fearful and so young that his behavior changed to aggressive around her. We had to keep them apart for most of the time she was here.
The puppy was allowed access to the outside all the time because she never went off our property. In fact, she never went far from the kennel we had for her in the garage. She would venture to the field across from our house if I or the Beast went outside and walked across so that she would get some exercise. It’s several acres and she would run and smell things and calm down after about a half hour of walking the uneven terrain.
There was a crew of men working on that area, filling in the trenches along the street and leveling the various homesites being sold. I am hoping that it was one of them that took the pup home with them because she disappeared. She had gained weight in the time we had her and looked healthy. The Beast had spoken to the men working because we wanted the lot we own, next door to our house, to be cleared and leveled. The rear portion of that lot had a huge pile of dirt and rocks and brush that had grown on and around it. We started trying to clear the brush for access to the pile this past summer (with my niece’s sons help) but found it to be more than we could really be expected to do on our own. We needed a bulldozer.
We asked for a price to clear it since we were willing to pay to have it done. The foreman called the man who owns the other properties here to find out what he wanted to charge and, lo and behold, they wanted the dirt pile so it was free! We can now repark our boat and the travel trailer for easier access to both. Knowing the Beast, however, he will procrastinate for months. We shall see.
I pulled down all the boxes of Christmas decorations and supplies from our attic access in the garage. The Beast did give me a hand. I got the boxes down and passed them to him at the foot of the ladder. He stacked them up at the back of the garage but *I* was the one that brought them all into the house. It really didn’t surprise me since he is such a *bah humbug* type person about Christmas. I, however, just love it. I love to buy and give the presents to the people I love. This year will be the first time in seven years that I will get to see some of my grandkids open the gifts I have bought for them. My son, his wife and their three kids will be coming down on the 26th and we will exchange gifts then. I really didn’t expect anything from them since they have just started being able to live without it being a *week-to-week* existence. They are also working on paying off my daughter-in-law’s college loans before they HAVE to start paying on them. They have been paying at least the interest on the loans each month and have now started paying something on the loans also. I’m very proud of both my son and my daughter-in-law for their determination and hard work. She has managed to keep a B average (it would be A if she were better at math) and has made the Dean’s List twice. My son is working for a major corporation, with contracts with hospitals all across the country. He has several assigned contracts that cover their computer systems and programs. They call him when they are experiencing any kind of problems. It requires being able to figure out what is wrong and how to correct whatever the problem is that they are having. He also has to document everything he did or recommended so the technician on the other shifts that also have responsibility for the same contracts know what was done. The sheets are examined by his superiors on a daily basis and his performance is rated. He has been an exemplary employee in that aspect and has also solved a few problems that others couldn’t solve.
His family now has complete medical and dental coverage. That is something he has not had until now. He also has all the other benefits that working for a major corporation offers like a 401K plan, paid vacations and sick pay and he can work extra hours for additional time off. There are a lot of other benefits but I don’t remember them all. He loves his job and still has some clients he has taken care of that will wait for his days off for him to come and clear up problems that THEY have. It’s a nice source of extra income for them and it means we no longer have to worry about them any more.
So, I started doing my interior decorations after getting the boxes down and I also have lights that I use around my bookcase and my etagere. I decided this year to use twinkle lights on the bookcase since I have Santa’s sleigh and reindeer on the top. I just liked the look of it. I had not, however, thought about Baron’s reaction since this is his first Christmas experience. He was, and is, just fascinated by the twinkle lights. He will stare and stare at them for long periods of time. It makes me wonder just what he’s thinking.
He hasn’t bothered any of the decorations but he hasn’t seen the tree yet. Since we are traveling to Port Charlotte for the closing on our house there, I figured I would wait until I return to set it up and decorate it. We are leaving on Wednesday morning and will get to Port Charlotte on Thursday evening. The closing is on Friday and I will leave to come home on Saturday morning. That means I will be home on Sunday at the latest since I stop for the night after about 8 hours of driving. We are taking both our vehicles since The Beast is going over to Ft. Lauderdale for a week to do some consulting work for an old client of his that he’s had for almost 30 years. He won’t be home for a week. I would normally accompany him to Ft. Lauderdale and spend time with Sister C but we are traveling with Baron. He will return home with me. *C’s* condo association does not allow any animals at all and he’s actually too big to take there anyway. He’s also too rowdy yet (being a puppy still no matter how BIG he is) for C’s hubby to handle after having major back surgery. I would be terrified that Baron might cause him to fall and hurt him in any way.
The Beast gave me my Christmas present early since we were taking the trip to Port Charlotte. He gave me my own Garmin GPS and I was thrilled. I have wanted one of my own since learning how to use his. What’s funny is that it is actually the model just ABOVE his Garmin and it has a noticeably brighter screen. I love it. It’s the best Christmas present he could have gotten me.
This has turned into a major entry so I had better close for now. I gave my niece, Tara, a shitload of Christmas decorations and also made her two ornaments for her tree. I did them in the blue, silver and white that she told me it was. They turned out beautiful. Tara said they used a lot of the decorations outside the house (there were rope lights as well as a couple long strands of the small lights that most people use these days. He boyfriend is coming over when I get back from Port Charlotte to help me put up the outside lights on the house. I’m going to use one of the presents I bought for the Beast to put them up (I bought him a small extension ladder….7 ft that extends to 12 ft). It will allow us access to the gutters to clean them out and make putting the outside lights up a snap.
Well, love you and have a great weekend and week. Remember to get your Christmas cards out and to tell all your friends and family that you love them. Be happy.
