The Rusty Dog: 01/01/2009

Friday, January 16, 2009

jailed for a crime he DID commit

Caged
There was an early period where Rusty was tearing stuff up.
Robby's recliner got it the worst.

So for a short period, we were using this dogcage to keep the RustyDog in when no one was home. I never liked the idea, but at the time we were even talking about having to give him up. So we were ready to try anything.

I was surprised that he seemed to be okay with the cage, at times even comforted. But many times he didn't want to go in in the mornin gwhen he knew I was leaving. And I was always really worried about how long he stayed in there.

Fortunately, his behavior turned around pretty quick. I became a lot better of a dog owner. In either case, after a few months, the cage was used less and less until one day, I realized it was just wasting space.

Out back with you. To the yard! Where it lives even this sad day.

I aint letting go

This is my toy

mine all mine

Sluuuurp

jailed for a crime he DID commit

Rustyfood

So food actually made a huge change in the Rusty Dog as well. We had tried a few different brands of dog food, but I was never satisfied. Rusty was responsible for a heck of a lot of Rustyfarts around the house. And often he seemed to be uncomfortable while poopin'.

I kept looking for something that was for delicate stomachs. The big winner was Avoderm. It's avocado-based. I never would of thought about feeding my dog an avocado. But the change in him was almost immediate. He liked the food, he stopped laying stinky farts, and the constipation went away.

These days he free feeds two small bowls of the stuff a day.

uglymug

the RustyDog's not fugly.
He's beeeuuuuutiful.

You've got to click on the image above and enlarge it to truly "get it".

Monday, January 12, 2009

Rusty Chillin

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Ceasar and the Rusty Dog

Ceasar and his pitt.

So watching the Dog Whisperer really helped me learn how to interact with the Rusty Dog in ways that were more productive. In just a handful of episodes, I felt like I learned enough from Ceasar's simple techniques to really move forward.

Some things I learned that were useful-

Correction can be made instantly. The dog wants the relationship to be harmonious, and is much more open to change than humans typically are. If I corrected my behavior, I could see improvement right away.

Bad leadership is really the problem. The dog is expecting you to act a certain way as an alpha. A proper alpha is calm and assertive (knows he's in control and is not threatened) and consistent (changing the way you lead all the time just creates confusion). When you are not acting this way, the dog is programmed to respond by taking leadership. There must always be an alpha. If it's not me, it has to be Rusty Dog. Thus, he will try to lead (which I'll probably interpret as bad behavior).

The body harness I was using was much less effective than a typical neck collar. From the body, you can't really control the dog's attention like you can from the head.

http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Rusty's favorite things

Being a brief expose of those situations most favored by The Rusty Dog.

1. Going to the comic book store

2. Playing tug-o-war

3. Going to Slade's house to play with Daisy Dog

4. When Len comes into town

5. Chasing squirrels