An update on Clio. She’s doing well for the most part, but the pee problem, while different, is not necessarily better. Instead of dribbling all over the house, as happened before, she now goes in fits and spurts. A dog of five months’ age is ‘supposed’ to be able to hold their bladder for around 5 hours, but Clio is able to hold it for maybe an hour and a half, two hours tops. The doctor at Tufts says, with a note of hope in her voice, that she should be able to do so in a few months, once she learns to control her bladder. In the meantime, it’s all about letting her out to pee quite regularly.
In the meantime, I’m having to work on her training. I wound up sitting in the common room last night, because a student happened to be flipping channels and stopped on this guy Cesar Milan, otherwise known as the Dog Whisperer. I found his show (on the National Geographic channel) to be one of the most interesting and useful things I’d seen on television in a decade. Not for nothing does Steven King call it the glass teat, friends. Anyway, his show offered some tips on dogs who chew things and who pull their leads when walking. I put these into practice when I took Clio for a walk yesterday evening, and again when I walked her this morning. Already, an improvement. I think the biggest difficulty now is teaching her some hand signs to go with specific actions, and getting her to speak up when she has to pee — even if that means she has to stand by the door and whine. Normally, she’s a very quiet dog. Occasionally she’ll growl, but it’s a very rare thing.
Cesar knows his stuff. I’ve watched a few shows, and he really gets the psychology of the pack animals down, which a lot of people forget with their “little babies.”
It sounds like she’s learning to use what she hasn’t learned how to control yet. It may take a bit, but be patient.
So glad she sounds like she’s doing better.
Cesar knows his stuff. I’ve watched a few shows, and he really gets the psychology of the pack animals down, which a lot of people forget with their “little babies.”
It sounds like she’s learning to use what she hasn’t learned how to control yet. It may take a bit, but be patient.
So glad she sounds like she’s doing better.
We had some problems with our dog Indiana when she was young. If she got too excited playing she would forget and loose control. It can take time for them to learn to hold it.
We had some problems with our dog Indiana when she was young. If she got too excited playing she would forget and loose control. It can take time for them to learn to hold it.