An Update on Ginny's Numerous Issues.

Ginny looks lovely -- and so does Sadie. Sometimes I think the issues our Shelties have are just "growing pains." Some teens are easier than others. :lol:
 
corbinam said:
And wow, when did Ginny get so dark? I remember when she was a light little fluff ball. Thanks for sharing :)
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It's happened so gradually that we really didn't notice that much until family and friends started pointing it out. I guess it started when she was approx. 5-6 months old.

This is a photo of her at 6 months old and you can see she's getting darker.

http://www.sheltieforums.com/album.php?albumid=192&pictureid=2499

Here she is now:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Ontario...key=Gv1sRgCOz7jLyB-oiz1wE#5476473734665110594

I'm a bit surprised that she went so dark, I was expecting her coat to look more like her fathers, which has a lot of red in it.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/bonnyville1/dustin.html

I was slightly disappointed she wasn't more red but I really couldn't ask for her to have a more beautiful full coat, especially considering she isn't even a year old yet.
 
Ginny finished her obedience class last night with flying colors. They did a little assessment of everything she learned at the end and she received excellent on everything except sitting politely when greeted, at which point she decided that she'd politely stand this one time. :lol:

Next week I'm going to continue with her in an advanced class. It will be nice doing this class with Ginny as I can go home and continue practicing all of the same things with Sadie when I get home. Sadie now requires more work than Ginny because I have to undo all of the bad things we've inadvertently taught her. :rolleyes2:

At home we haven't had any more accidents inside or on our front porch. I'm going to keep spraying the front porch with repellent till I finish the bottle, then see how she does.

Her digging has been an annoying issue. We don't seem to be able to discourage her, she just goes and digs somewhere else. I think I'm going to have to give in a give her a place to dig.

Her barking has been of some concern to me. We're going to be going away on vacation for a week with Dale's family and I REALLY want to get some control over it before then, as there are two 1 year old babies going along also and I don't want her disturbing them while they're napping. Ginny's barking is mainly excitement and sounds like nails on a chalk board.

My trainer suggested practicing being quiet outside for 10 min. at a time. At this time I'm supposed to just give Sadie and Ginny each a Kong.

Also, when Sadie barks her nervous bark I'm supposed to distract her by waving a treat under her nose or throwing a treat on the floor. The trainer believes that this will distract her from what's bothering her and get her using her nose instead of eyes/ears (She barks if we stand up too fast, open the front door, if she hears some noise inside/outside that she thinks is suspicious, etc.). She often startles Ginny into barking now too, which Ginny didn't do previously. I'm not as concerned about Sadie, since we'll be up north and there won't be any city sounds I don't think she'll be a problem.

When either of them are barking for any other reason I'm supposed to put them in a time out immediately. While I certainly want to discourage the barking, I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mentioned to her that shelties bark and she said I was just giving them an excuse, which I suppose is true. But I don't expect them to be completely silent so I may try the time out after 3 barks. But maybe that's sending a mixed signal?? Any thoughts on this??

Anyway, apart from the barking, I really look forward to the continued training of both of my girls and eventually taking competition classes. :smile2:
 
OntarioSheltie said:
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But I don't expect them to be completely silent so I may try the time out after 3 barks. But maybe that's sending a mixed signal?? Any thoughts on this??
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I don't think it's sending mixed signals. I am having similar barking issues with Lexi--she is now barking when she wants something. However, I have to determine what is "barking for barking sake" and just "I'm a dog, I bark". So, when she barks at me, I wait until she gets really worked up. I can tell because she looks right at me, barks and then huffs and puffs, and barks again. I'm not sure if a specific # of barks is the way to go, or if you can just tell when her excitement level is over the top based on her other body language (or pitch of the bark etc...) Just a thought :)
 
OntarioSheltie said:
When either of them are barking for any other reason I'm supposed to put them in a time out immediately. While I certainly want to discourage the barking, I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mentioned to her that shelties bark and she said I was just giving them an excuse, which I suppose is true. But I don't expect them to be completely silent so I may try the time out after 3 barks. But maybe that's sending a mixed signal?? Any thoughts on this??

:
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Sounds as though Ginny is really responding to the training ! That's wonderful. I empathize regarding the issue of barking, as Snap barks out of nervousness, habit, and just pure talking at me. And I learned quickly when I had my neighbors shelties recently that all it takes is a single barker and the whole herd wants to chime in.

Regarding your question, I suppose the trainer wants you to be immediate and consistent with your correction ( ie: time out). I agree with the need to be quick and consistent. I wonder about the time out. Will they understand this and can you do it quickly enough with two dogs ?

Strangely enough, I am finding with Snap that I use multiple "no barK" corrections: "NO BARK", "Quiet", and a hand signal that looks like the letter "C" with thumb and fingers cupped. (He knows the hand signal as a result of my cupping my hand around his nose and mouth and saying quiet). He knows all of the corrections, but sometimes one is more effective than another.
 
corbinam said:
I don't think it's sending mixed signals. I am having similar barking issues with Lexi--she is now barking when she wants something. However, I have to determine what is "barking for barking sake" and just "I'm a dog, I bark". So, when she barks at me, I wait until she gets really worked up. I can tell because she looks right at me, barks and then huffs and puffs, and barks again. I'm not sure if a specific # of barks is the way to go, or if you can just tell when her excitement level is over the top based on her other body language (or pitch of the bark etc...) Just a thought :)
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What you're describing is what I've been doing with Ginny. When she gets overly excited I tried to calm her down but its no longer working. I can make her sit or lie down and she will calm down but as soon as I let her back up she goes right back to barking. Her worst barking is when she's around other dogs or she's trying to get Sadie's attention. I've been giving her time outs lately, which have helped but I need to be more consistent and get my husband on board as well.

Katherine said:
Regarding your question, I suppose the trainer wants you to be immediate and consistent with your correction ( ie: time out). I agree with the need to be quick and consistent. I wonder about the time out. Will they understand this and can you do it quickly enough with two dogs ?

Strangely enough, I am finding with Snap that I use multiple "no barK" corrections: "NO BARK", "Quiet", and a hand signal that looks like the letter "C" with thumb and fingers cupped. (He knows the hand signal as a result of my cupping my hand around his nose and mouth and saying quiet). He knows all of the corrections, but sometimes one is more effective than another.
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Sadie's barking is different entirely from Ginny's barking. I most likely won't be putting Sadie in time outs very often, if at all, only Ginny. Sadie I'll keep up with the treat idea I mentioned.

Sadie and Ginny don't always listen to my voice command 'Hush.' When Sadie is nervous barking she'll look alarmed, put her head down and give a single 'bark,' run away, give a single bark, etc, as if to say 'But Mom, I REALLY don't trust that sound!' When Ginny is barking out of excitement she's beyond voice commands and signals as well. Both ignore nose cupping as well, especially Sadie. Ginny will try and bark with me holding her mouth shut. :rolleyes2:
 
OntarioSheltie said:
What you're describing is what I've been doing with Ginny. When she gets overly excited I tried to calm her down but its no longer working. I can make her sit or lie down and she will calm down but as soon as I let her back up she goes right back to barking. Her worst barking is when she's around other dogs or she's trying to get Sadie's attention. I've been giving her time outs lately, which have helped but I need to be more consistent and get my husband on board as well.

:
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Yes, the sit/down doesn't work for Lexi, either. We are employing what our trainer recommended--a time out for 10 minutes. So when she gets carried away barking at me, I ask her "Do you want to go to your crate?" in a happy excited voice. She then goes into her crate for 10 minutes. It's working already. She is learning that barking doesn't get her what she wants. She's much better already.
 
corbinam said:
Yes, the sit/down doesn't work for Lexi, either. We are employing what our trainer recommended--a time out for 10 minutes. So when she gets carried away barking at me, I ask her "Do you want to go to your crate?" in a happy excited voice. She then goes into her crate for 10 minutes. It's working already. She is learning that barking doesn't get her what she wants. She's much better already.
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Thanks! Good to know!
 
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