Learning the ropes
Still trying to teach Caro the fun that is neighborhood walks.
She usually loves riding in the wagon with Livi, but last time we took her, she jumped out! I figured we could try walking on a leash again, but no luck. I put her harness and leash on her, give her a treat, she turns into a statue and that’s pretty much the end of it. Let me know if you have any tips! The only time I can get her to walk on a leash is when we’re walking from the car to the dog park 😉
In some ways, she’s entirely adjusted to our little family. She comes over for kisses and snuggles on the couch, barks (!) when my mom comes over, and wags her tail. These are all things she never would have done when we first brought her home. She’s also a huge fan of chicken- just like her fur sister.
I made our favorite roast chicken again last night! The little beggars sat in the kitchen, gazing longingly, the entire time it was cooking. Since I horribly regretted the lack of veggies last time -the broth makes them taste insane- I went a little crazy with this one. Carrots, onion, zucchini and sweet potato. It was incredible! I especially love the leftovers for wraps or salads.
After dinner, we decided to get some gelato.
So young, but already knows to say, “cheers” with her spoon 😉
Little lovebug has no idea we have to get her 2-year shots today. Usually we go out for gelato afterwards, so there’s a chance I may have it twice within a 24-hour period. Ok with me 😉
Hope you have a wonderful day! Remember to check in with your daily workout on this post! <–also enters you for this week’s giveaway
See ya later <3
xoxo
Gina
Something to do: Last week’s core on fire workout! We’ll have another one up tomorrow, too.
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Caro is just too cute! So is Liv 🙂 Is it crazy that I’ve never had gelato?! It looks amazing though, so I totally say go for the 2x in 24 hours 😉
ahhhh! it’s amazing 🙂
Caro is so cute!!!
2 year shots? That sucks 🙁 Max doesn’t have another set until he is four or six, I can’t remember. I guess the US has a different schedule?
yeah 🙁 maybe. i think after this, she’s done until she’s 4? our schedule is a little different because we spaced out some of the vaccines
Hopefully it isn’t too bad for her – Max had a set at 12 months (I think…I really should remember these things) and he gave the nurse the dirtiest look but was fine after. He still doesn’t like the nurse though (its the same one every time).
I’m sure Livi will be a trooper – she seems like a pretty cool kid 🙂
thank you! i ask the nurse to tell her “it’s an ‘ow'” before she does it, so she’s not blind-sighted. last time she was crying afterwards and the nurse brought her in a new book (they give books instead of candy), and livi said, “thank youu-u-u-u-u-u” with her crying, quivering voice. broke my heart!
We have a CKCS and they are amazing dogs, though a little stubborn at times. We don’t have an issue walking, but we have found bribery with treats really gets her attention. Like maybe give her a treat every couple of feet to get her moving. I also highly reccomend this animal communicator. I KNOW it sounds crazy and I don’t normally believe in this type of thing, but she helped us out with problems for both my dog and our cats. I’m telling you, its creepy, but she can communicate with them even over the phone. Her name is Emerald and her website is www dot heartscontent dot net. She is in the Philly area, but as I said, can work magic over the phone. We did the phone option and it worked out very well. (I was skeptical the first time about having a stranger come to my house). She can help figure out why she doesn’t like the harness and can also help you come to an “agreement” with Caro. I realize this sounds insane, but it really worked for us.
i’m so glad you told me about that! something i never would have researched 🙂 i’ll check out her website today!!
caro does REALLY well with treat bribery. we ended up having to crate her when we leave the house, but the second i grab the treat bag, she runs into the crate!
I’ve had trouble walking my dog too! I LOVE caesar’s advice and have found it super helpful. Whether a dog is 75 lbs like mine or little when they don’t walk well on a leash it can be a pain. Few things I found specifically that help is to have a short leash–not too much room to roam-and lots of practice with treats. Good luck!
thank you!
I love hearing all o fLiv’s little sayings/mannerism! She’s too cute :). Hope her shots go okay!
she is such a funny thing! thank you!
I can’t get over Caro’s face! Definitely the most adorable dog I’ve ever seen, including my own. 😉
aww, thank you! i love her little heart-shaped nose
Good luck, Livi! My mom always got me M&M’s and a Barbie outfit (when I was a little older) after shots.A little chocolate always helps take the pain away.
We have a hound puppy that came from a really bad situation and was SO shy. He wouldn’t even walk through a doorway without me picking him up and carrying him (and he’s 75lbs!) when we first got him. The leash was a Really Big Deal for him too. What we ended up doing was putting the harness on and leaving it on (when we were there to supervise, obviously). It took him a little bit, but by the end of the week he didn’t even notice it. Then we attached the leash (while my 2 year old is napping, and after she goes to bed) and let him drag that around for a little while. Again, about a week and he didn’t care anymore. Then I started taking him for “walks” around the house, then the yard, and eventually the neighborhood. It took about a month and a half, but now he walks really well on the leash! Only if we could get him to stop chewing up my yoga mats, life would be good!
Exactly what worked for me and what I was going to recommend. Good luck!
I’ve heard this method too – except starting with small “doses” of the harness, just at home, paired with lots of praise and treats while she has it on. Then increase the time she wears it, while still keeping the regular home routine and extra treats. Eventually you can work up toward putting the harness on with the lease around the house, then going outside for a little bit but just in the yard, then down the street, and so on. The idea is to break them into wearing the leash little-by-little without overwhelming them, and get them to associate it with good things like treats and attention.
Awww, the shots are no fun! Sending her love today, more gelato yes! <3
i don’t have any dog advice for you, but was wondering about the roast chicken you made. do you really use 2 sticks of butter like the recipe calls for?? it just seems like so much to me! i would imagine the drippings would taste fabulous, but what doesn’t taste good when soaked in butter, haha! good luck with the shots…
that gelato looks delicious, wish I had a place near me! I support the going twice in 24 hours idea, everyone deserves a treat after getting shots.
I’m taking my 18mo for her shots today too… I may have to adopt your post-doc gelato (or fro-yo) tradition. Just another selfless sacrifice we make as mothers 😉
Loved the Core on Fire video!
Bless Caroline’s heart!! I love seeing how rescues really blossom when they are brought into a loving home. I have a rescue too and it just makes my heart happy to see him doing things he never would have done when we got him a year ago.
For the leash thing, I would use the fact that she likes to walk on the leash from the car to the dog park as motivation! Start parking farther and farther away (which I know can be hard with 2 pups and a little one!!) and walk to the park on the leash. Just baby increments and I think she will start to associate it as a good thing eventually 🙂
My Peanut didn’t know what stairs were or how to go down them when I first brought him home… I even put chicken on every step and he wouldn’t do it (which is saying something, his love for chicken is like your pup’s). Once I carried him to show him how awesome downstairs was (there was a couch down there! haha) the after that I would carry him and leave him with 2 steps and he would go, and each time I would add another step. In no time he was racing down the stairs!
The idea of gelato is ridiculous to me right now (it’s -13 with wind chill) but maybe a warm bread pudding?? 🙂 Took a Pure Barre class today as my workout for the Winter Shape-up…love the burn!!!
gelato sounds sooo good! if only it weren’t 19 degrees here!!
I would recommend leaving the harness on. Let her get used to it. Then add the leash. Sounds like it is still too much at once. Doing it in steps helps. Also, use treats that can be for walk only. If she loves cheese(just an example), make sure to only give her that doing walks, leash time etc.
I just wanted to say that it’s been hella cold where I am and I can’t take my daily walks. Instead, I’ve been doing back-to-back ab burners. Keep posting them!!
I rescued a dog last summer that had a lot of issues as well. One was walking with loud noises (cars, trucks, bikes, etc.). I think it’s all in baby steps. We would go out for a moment, then come back in. The next day, we’d go out for 2 moments (haha) and then come back in. If something scared her, I’d make her sit next to me and watch it pass, she was never allowed to run away. Facing her fears as you will. If I noticed her seeming anxious, I just kept walking confidently like there was nothing wrong even as she was super lagging behind (it takes them a few times to get the gist of this). They look to you to see if they should be scared – if you don’t even acknowledge the problem and act very confident, they follow along. This was a strategy that my vet, vet tech, and three trainers told me to do. It took a while but eventually, she was walking 5-6 miles and had no problem. Try different things – try a vest-like harness or only use her collar. Put her leash on in the wagon. Go slow, let her get used to things and she may eventually come around. I think it’s important to let them go slow and not push too hard too fast. That often just ends in steps backwards.
Good luck!
My littlest one would get scared at the tiniest noise and run back inside…even mid-poop. It took a few months to get her all sorted and less scared of everything but just be patient 🙂 She’s adorable!!
The gelato looks amazing! We adopted our puppy about 3 years ago, he was up for free on a military site. The mom had him before the family, but the kids were being mean to him, and she wanted to give him a good home. He was skin & bones, his teeth were flat from eating at a cage, and he was hit a lot. He is now loved and cuddled everyday, but he still flinches when we got to pet his bed or when we yell playing videogames. Being patient is very much key, and know that you are loving them and giving them a better life.
much cuteness in this post! and now I want gelato 😛
My dog does the same thing! When we go get the mail and he gets out without a leash, he walks around our court so happy and free. The moment the leash goes on, regardless of colar or harness, he turns to stone!
She is truly precious!! She’ll get the hang of it. 🙂
Caro is so cute! She’ll catch on and be a walking champ in no time. 🙂
i hope so! i think she’d really enjoy it 🙂
Ah! Can I help you walk the pups when you’re here in SD? I’m living vicariously through my friends with dogs til I can get a puppy of my own. 🙂 My apartment has been a stinker about pets.
um YES!
Woo! Ps. Let me know if you need help figuring out neighborhoods.. I work w the Navy so am familiar w a few of the bases around SD!
I hope it goes well today with her shots. Gelato x 2 sounds like a great idea 🙂 My mom would also do some kind of treat whenever I had something painful like that…it always took the edge off!
it’s nice to have something to look forward to afterwards 🙂
Awww, I hope Olivia does well with her shots — she deserves some more gelato for sure 🙂
thank you!! it’s always a good time for gelato 🙂
Were you at FROST? I love that place! They’re opening one in Phoenix soon!
yes! love frost 🙂
THAT gelato looks amazing!! I’ve never had gelato…. I don’t care how cold it is, I’m always up for ice cream and the like! 😀
I have a little rescue dog (a Chihuahua/terrier) that couldn’t handle walking on a leash either. He had clearly never been walked before I got him. He was terrified of noise, so every time a car would go by when we were walking, he would freeze and refuse to go any farther. It took a few weeks of super-consistent effort to get him used to walking on a leash, but he loves it now. We started walking maybe 10 feet, with lots of treats and praise, and then we went home. The next day, we walked maybe 12 feet, with lots of treats and praise. The day after, we walked maybe 14 feet — you get the idea. It took a massive amount of patience on my part, but eventually he figured out that the benefits of walking (treats! praise! squirrels to bark at!) outweighed the negatives (scary noises! and what is that weird leash thing anyway?!). Good luck to you — and much patience!
The best advice I ever got for surviving shots (as a kid and as an adult – I hate needles) was to tell the nurse to count to 3, and on 3, she sticks the needle in and I blow out a breathe. I rarely feel a thing now. It’s an amazing anxiety saver.
Oh and I keep my eyes closed the entire time the nurse is swabbing my arm with alcohol or preparing the needle. Sometimes ignorance is INCREDIBLE BLISS AMIRITE?
1. Turn your head and keep those eyes closed.
2. On 3, blow out a big breath.
3. Done!
4. YAY.
😀