My Dog Lacey

Lacey’s still challenging my pack position. And she’s missed two meals because of it.

Last night, I got her food out, went outside with her. She was looking directly at me. I said “Lacey, down”. She sat and looked at me. Would not give a down.

I didn’t stare at her…. I just kinda looked around to see if she’d give. I even gave her some time, but didn’t repeat the command.

So I’m thinking — did she not hear me? no, she heard me. is there some health concern that she’s not giving it? no, she’s perfectly fine. does she know the command well enough that I can expect immediate response? yes, absolutely. She’s given it lots of times before.

What’s the problem? She’s just not giving it. And she missed dinner because of it.

And she missed breakfast this morning. I even gave her a 2nd chance this morning. Still, not giving it.

It breaks my heart to walk away from her when she hasn’t eaten. But I know I can’t give in. If I give in, I reinforce to her that she’s top dog, so to speak. And that’s no good. Then it’s even more effort to swing it back the other way (getting me back in the alpha spot).

Tonight, I think I’ll go with a simple sit. She’ll definitely succeed with that one.

Then tomorrow morning, we’ll do what we did last week and break it up into small bites. Play, make it lots of fun to respond to commands and eat. Lots of love and attention.

This may be a constant thing for us — her challenging me, wanting the top spot. Good grief, I hope not. But if it is, that’s fine. I can manage it.

Next thing… she jumps on the couch to look out the front windows. Guess I’ll be getting the tinfoil out soon to cover the couch cushions.

Anna

This entry was posted on Monday, May 1st, 2006 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Dog Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Lacey’s still challenging my pack position. And she’s missed two meals because of it.

Last night, I got her food out, went outside with her. She was looking directly at me. I said “Lacey, down”. She sat and looked at me. Would not give a down.

I didn’t stare at her…. I just kinda looked around to see if she’d give. I even gave her some time, but didn’t repeat the command.

So I’m thinking — did she not hear me? no, she heard me. is there some health concern that she’s not giving it? no, she’s perfectly fine. does she know the command well enough that I can expect immediate response? yes, absolutely. She’s given it lots of times before.

What’s the problem? She’s just not giving it. And she missed dinner because of it.

And she missed breakfast this morning. I even gave her a 2nd chance this morning. Still, not giving it.

It breaks my heart to walk away from her when she hasn’t eaten. But I know I can’t give in. If I give in, I reinforce to her that she’s top dog, so to speak. And that’s no good. Then it’s even more effort to swing it back the other way (getting me back in the alpha spot).

Tonight, I think I’ll go with a simple sit. She’ll definitely succeed with that one.

Then tomorrow morning, we’ll do what we did last week and break it up into small bites. Play, make it lots of fun to respond to commands and eat. Lots of love and attention.

This may be a constant thing for us — her challenging me, wanting the top spot. Good grief, I hope not. But if it is, that’s fine. I can manage it.

Next thing… she jumps on the couch to look out the front windows. Guess I’ll be getting the tinfoil out soon to cover the couch cushions.

Anna

This entry was posted on Monday, May 1st, 2006 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Dog Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.