Most people with dogs know that Halloween can be an adventure. People ringing the door bell and knocking on the door all night, the door opening and closing, strange people standing on the front porch; it’s a very confusing night for dogs. Years ago, A.J.’s first Halloween with us was a lesson in door etiquette. …
Tag: obedience training
More Shocking
Before I continue with the story of A.J.’s latest training, I’d like to say a few words about the training methods I’m using. I know there are people who are adamantly opposed to training with electronic collars and prong collars, both of which I use on A.J. There are people who would like these training …
Shocking
We started a new training program with A.J. today. He had stopped responding to me when he was off-leash, to the point where he could easily put himself in danger. I contacted Jerry, the trainer who helped A.J. get over his leash aggression. I really trust him and believe he’ll do what’s best for A.J. …
Sore Shoulders
My shoulder hurts today, because yesterday A.J. hung himself. Let’s start at the beginning. Earlier this week I took A.J. to the park to run off leash. As usual, he was having a fabulous time running wild and getting out a lot of energy. When it was time to go, I called him to me …
Sore Paws
A.J. was not a good boy this morning. And, as sometimes happens when A.J. is not a good boy, he wound up spending some time with his veterinarian this afternoon. Instead of going for our morning walk I took A.J. to the park where he could run off-leash. It was a beautiful, sunny morning. …
A.J. at the Door
I’ve been working off and on for a long time on A.J.’s behavior at the front door. I haven’t been consistent about training him on front door etiquette because, well, no one ever actually comes to our front door. We couldn’t exactly be classified as social butterflies (or any type of butterflies), so we don’t …
No Feet in the Pool!
August 2, 2015 After we adopted A.J. and realized how crazy he was, people who had experience with Springer Spaniels told us they tend to calm down when they turn three. A.J. turned three a week ago, and he’s been more obnoxious this week than he has been in quite some time. It started with …
A.J. Destroys a Backpack
July 31, 2015 Today was the toughest A.J. day we’ve had in a while. Greg and I went for a bike ride. Before we left we did our usual house check, making sure sure the counter tops were clear and the garbage cans put away. I gave A.J. a treat, and we left. I forgot my …
A.J. Ignores Me
June 26, 2015 We had another bad deer encounter last night. We were walking through the neighborhood. We were out late because it was a very hot day, so it was almost dark outside. Suddenly a deer went running across the street about 30 yards ahead of us. A.J. threw a fit again. I gave …
A.J. Relapses
June 23, 2015 A.J. had a major relapse on our walk today. The whole incident was pretty ugly, but not entirely because of A.J. We were walking down the path when deer jumped over the fence on one side and started heading toward the fence on the other side. We stopped to watch, and I …
AJ the Springer 