The Old Folks Home

[Cynthia12]

My husband won't let me do his laundry. Our Washer and Dryer are down stairs. He doesn't like me going down the stairs too much considering it's a hard thing to do for me..such a sweet man.

DiDi, no, the gal I'm thinking of is named Melissa. That's funny, so close.

I have trained dogs in the past ~ a lot! My dogs are trained with hand signals. For example, the one that I just taught my pup, is "wait." When you have a large dog, and it's a Golden wanting it's food, you need to let them know, they don't jump up..oh yeah. She sits down, I hold my hand out now, and do it without saying a word now, and she will wait until I say come..pointing to the food, or, I just point down to the food. Smart little girl. Still needs to go potty a lot. She may be big, but she's still a baby. It takes several months for most pups to be able to hold it for a long period of time. I do the door training, kennel training, and just having her on a leash in the beginning. She actually whines now once in a while when she has to go out. I open the door, she goes to her spot, and as soon as I see her go, she comes back in. She knows when she is let out alone, she is out there for one thing. Potty time. She goes out with me to take care of the chickens. Now, not soo sure I am going to be able to keep her from chasing them. She is a dog that was bred to flush a bird. Who am I to tell her not to. I tried.....but it was like talking to a wall. She can't catch them...yet. They have been in the coop and run anyway since all of that snow. She will eventually be in the same dog area that my Toby was in. It's a very large area. There is a kennel within the area that she will be able to go into when ever she wants. When it is raining/snowing..of course, this will be when she's older. I have a heat lamp in the dog house that is in the kennel.
Oh dear..I went on a bit didn't I? sorrry.. I miss training dogs, placing them in good homes. I rescued and fostered. It was fun seeing the different personalities of the ones I had. I can't do it all the time now. Just my own. )

 

[Arielle]

Post before above


I found early on that givin my kids simple clear commands made their lives easier, ( and mine). I had four dogs at the time and each could follow a command if I prefaced it with his name. Generally worked. So I applied the same thinking to my kids. IT still works. AND I was just reading a child development book I bought today that confirms this approach. KISS ( no offense)

 

[Cynthia12]

lol..so, the kids know when you point a finger at them, and use the same face that DiDi showed that she uses..it does the trick ey?

 

[Arielle]

lol..so, the kids know when you point a finger at them, and use the same face that DiDi showed that she uses..it does the trick ey?

I use a slightly different technique for stop or no; say name of child, child looks at me, my head subtly shakes a "no", very slight movement on my part . Imperceptable when we are in public--don't want to embarass my kids. ( Dang--can't spell tonight!)

Now when the grain delv truck arrives my dogs go bonkers because the german shepard in the truck is off the wall. I call one dog by name followed by a firm "come" , he dashes across the yard and into the house. HIs brother . . . I repeat the commands,he just looks at me and goes back to barking. I walk out to him and he scoots into the house. . . that dog gives me a run for my money he does. Smart smart dog.

 

[Stumpy]

7biddies, I certainly don't think using "ENK" is child abuse.

Cynthia, I enjoyed the dog-training discussion. We took in a stray a couple of years ago which is an interesting-looking combination of breeds, perhaps a little Jack Russell, Brittany and a hound of some sort. She's very smart, but I cannot seem to teach her the meaning of "no" or "leave it," especially when it comes to food.

A couple of nights ago we had conditions a bit unusual for our area, a combination of strong winds and cold temps. Late in the afternoon my husband mentioned that he was surprised that the chickens weren't yet roosting. They have been going in as early as 4:00 lately. I didn't think much about it until I went out later after dark to lock them in, only to find not a single chicken in the coop. Then I saw the problem -- the wind had blown the door shut. It didn't take long to locate them -- on the ridge of the roof. There they were, huddled together on the slick metal roof with a very cold wind blowing. I found a ladder and retrieved one at a time. I was surprised that even my big roosters didn't peck me. The things we do for our chickens. This morning, though, Henry decided to give me a little ankle flogging for the first time ever, which I hope is a fluke and not a regular thing.

 

[Arielle]

My understanding is that terriers can be . . um . . independent, and not respond well to training. Especially Jack Russells. Though there are exceptions= a dog in Fraser, and a childrens TV show introducing classic books. years ago I worked with a JR to clear rats out of a barn; he did a great job! Just not a dog to pat and cuddle with--total working dog. McGee THey are trainable, just not as easy as other breeds . . .

 

[Stumpy]

Arielle, maybe it's the Jack Russell part in her that refuses to "leave it." I have been pleasantly surprised that she has learned that the chickens are off limits. She just won't leave their food alone.

 

[Arielle]

You are doing well if she leaves the chickens alone. THe woman who owned McGee and two other JR could not keep cats. THey ended the way of the rats. Nice dogs, bred for a job they usually do well.

My BIL lost his dog when she chased after a squirrel on to a 4 lane street. Very sad. Half lab, half hound. THey are what they are.

 

[Arielle]

On another note-- I made a pot of soup, and as the frig is rather full, thought to put it out on the porch like my mother did. Not!!!! Chickens will have that lid off in no time and enjoy gulping down the yummy soup!

 

[KnobbyOaks]

If I didn't have ENK in my vocabulary, I'd be lost. It works on children, really good on grandchildren, dogs and lo and behold, chickens. I just go ENK and point a finger at the abusing chick and she stops; think the finger works well with chickens.