One Word Commands

Last night I mopped the kitchen floor and ruefully noted that one advantage of the dropping temperatures is that there won't be muddy paw and shoe prints all over the floor, though I will need to make sure that my gloves are in my coat pockets for easy access when we're headed outside. Stella is four months old now and her two biggest issues are house training and jumping. I work on both issues at the instruction of Lincoln's Dog Boy (At my house we call him Lincoln's Dog Whisperer.). ("It sounds like she does better in class than at home," Bill noted as she jumped on him while I tried to keep her in sit stay.) And it's true. Dog Boy makes it all seem really obvious and easy and I try to mimic him ("results are not typical") at home. We're doing ok.

The sit stay is the key to everything. From the sit stay you prevent the dog from jumping on family or guests, you prevent her from chasing the cats, you prepare her to go outside, or get in the car, or eat her dinner - everything requires the sit stay first. It is about preparing the mind to switch gears, and I love that concept. We all have the tendency to jump and chase cats and shove food in our faces willy nilly. I should sit stay more, I think. And walks. I should get taken on more walks.

The key to house training is frequent trips outside (hence the perpetually muddy paws) and a leash at all times, even in the house. I loop the leash under a chair when I cook or my dresser when I am in my bedroom. It apparently creates a den wherever she is so that she won't soil in that area. The leash in the house has the added advantage of allowing easy correction and direction into a sit stay.

Though I don't have house training issues, per se, the concept appeals to me. Don't make a mess where you are.