My furry sibling, Gypsy has really changed since 
we’ve moved. She doesn’t destroy the entire house everyday while mum is at work. Although she slips once in a while. Yesterday, mum was home sick and she had just opened a new box tissues. While mum slept, Gypsy decided to decorate Continue reading
A noise in the middle of the night awakens me from a deep sleep. Simba, my first German Shorthair Pointer, is still asleep with her heard on the pillow next to me. I feel around for Gypsy, the other German Shorthair Pointer, on the bed and couldn’t find her. I sat up wondering where she went and then remembered that I noticed during our afternoon that her stomach was a little off. A few minutes after putting my head back down on my pillow, I heard her coming up the steps. She jumps on the bed and comes over to me to nudge me on the shoulder so that I raise the covers up as she slides in. Both Simba and Gypsy start snoring and are sound asleep. Me on the other hand, could not get back to sleep. I tossed and turned for about 20 minutes when my foot came in contact with Gypsy’s cold wet nose. I moved my foot around wondering why her nose felt so slimy and squishy. The more contact I made the more I thought it just didn’t feel right. I tear the covers off the bed and there it was lying next to my foot. A dead toad stretched out on its back! I was on my feet so fast that my head spun as I yelled, “EWE! EWE! EWE!” for about 20 minutes. I couldn’t get myself to pick up his poor little dead body but knew that I had to. I knew that once I did pick it up, I would have to get rid of it as soon as possible in order not to vomit. Running down a flight of stairs and across the living room was not an option. The only other option was sending it to fishy heaven via the toilet. The rest of the night, I laid in bed wondering if I would have to explain the toad in the trap to a plumber. Why does everything seem so much worse at night. By morning all was back to normal, including the toilet. Gypsy being a German Shorthair Pointer will continue to hunt and bring me gooey gifts. I just hope it’s not in the middle of the night and under my covers.
by Naomi Heck, M.Ed., CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
1. Stop focusing on correcting or punishing bad behavior. Saying “No!” or squirting your dog with water might relieve your frustration but it can maintain or worsen your dog’s bad behavior. Corrections are deceiving. They momentarily suppress unwanted behavior so it seems to have worked. But if your dog does it again, it didn’t work at all! If you correct your dog often, you can diminish his willingness to listen and cooperate.
2. Choose a behavior your dog can do that will replace Continue reading
by Naomi Heck, M.Ed., CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
My mum is the best. Today she left us these great toys to play with. They were white soft balls. The balls were shaped funny, they weren’t completely round but fun nonetheless. She bought 12 of them so that Simba and I didn’t fight over them. She was in such a rush put the door this morning that she left them on the counter and forgot to give them to us. It’s a good thing that I’ve grown and can reach everything on the counters. We had so much fun. The balls released like snow stuff when I pounced on them and threw them around.
Oops! I was wrong, again! Mum’s squeaky voice and fiery eyes told me so!
DIY Dog Toys
Christmas is right around the corner. If your pup is anything like mine, especially Simba, they love to open presents on Christmas along with the rest of the family. Toys don’t seem to last very long with these two. Buying toys can get expensive so I want to share with you a couple of DIY dog toys you can make by recycling some items that you have at home. They’re all very easy to make. First of all, go through your sock drawer. This is a great way to put those old socks to good use. SOCK BALL: If I have a bunch of ankle socks, I stuff a bunch into one sock leaving 3 or 4 for the end. After you’ve stuffed them and created a tight oblong ball, put the ball into one of the ankle socks you saved for the end. Insert it with the open side first, then insert it into the next sock again with open side going in first and continue until out of socks. You can insert one of those squeakers Continue reading
Mom bought Me and Simba new beds since I destroyed the other four we had. It’s not like I did it on purpose! I like playing this game when Simba lays down. I wait until she gets all comfy. Sometimes it takes a long time because she goes around and around in circles then lays down only to get up and do it all over again. She makes me dizzy just watching. When she finally stays down, it’s game time. Pop Simba Off! I tug and thrust the bed around until she pops off. Mom was not happy today when she got home from work and found this.
Gypsy is now a little over one year old. She hasn’t slowed down at all but at least the destruction has. She is fully aware that she has done something wrong but just can’t seem to help herself. I believe she has learned right from wrong but every once in a while the puppy brain takes over and wins over her logic. One and a half weeks before Thanksgiving, my oven/stove went on the brinks. The technician came a stated that the electronic panel (the oven’s brains) had to be sent in to be refurbished because they don’t carry replacement for that model anymore. All was fine until he said it would take 3-4 weeks to get back. That would not do! Thanksgiving was a week away! Besides not being able Continue reading
by Naomi Heck, M.Ed., CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
