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Blogs by Diana L. Guerrero
Puppies are a pain...
1/14/2004 8:29:59 AM
Sleepless nights, cold potty breaks, and more.
"Remind me again why I love working with animals!" I lamented to my pal on the phone. My bloodshot eyes and rotten mood were testimony to the fact that Kashmir, the Afghan puppy, prevented sleep. I am currently onsite at a client's home filled with animals. They are away on business. I have known them for ages--otherwise I would have never accepted the task.
Some people let the animals dictate their every move and so it is a tremendous effort to correct, but it only requires consistency and reinforcement of desired behavior. The animals? They are fine, but are conditioned to boss humans in the direction they want.
Despite owner claims of good behavior, I found those promises to be fallacy. So, at 3am I decided to confine the spoiled pup in another room and turned on the satallite soundscapes to drown out the complaints. Then, just as I was ready to doze, the cats arrived at the door yowling that they wanted to eat--at 5am.
Fortunately, I circumvented the parrot choir in the am by making sure all the animals were fed and cleaned early. The owner reports that one of the bird shrieks incessantly, but I have not found that to be the case.
The household is a good example of what happens when people unwittingly train animals to behave badly. The bird shrieks for ages and then is finally reinforced for behaving poorly by getting vegetables. The owner swears he shrieks because that is what he wants...but that is only part of it. The bird is reinforced for the poor behavior and so it escalates. The bird has trained the owner. So have the other animals.
I remember one cat owner swearing that the cat would not eat unless the owner stroked it. In contrast to what he said, the cat was pretty plump and ate when the owner was not home. Animal behaviorists see a lot of interesting cases and it always amazes me when people complain about the modification process. The one that made me shake my head in disbelief was the rottweiler that bit everyone in the household. When I asked the last time it happened, the owner showed me his hand with two punctures holes through it...then argued with me over the program and the 100% compliance rule. Go figure. In the end, the cat was fine. The rottweiler did cease biting the family, too.
Anyway, I am better today since I had a good nights sleep last night. I hope to get some other work done today. The pup has learned to stay within the puppy pen without much protest and is taking all naps in the crate willingly. I am glad that this has become a non-issue within 24 hours. However, I hate the potty training in the early morning and late nights when the ice on the grass crunches under my feet--the pup hates it, too!
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More Blogs by Diana L. Guerrero
• Armchair Safari Video (Oprah Winfrey Network) - Saturday, June 19, 2010
• Moms Choose Kendra Kandlestar - Wednesday, October 24, 2007
• Rancheros Vistadores de Santa Inez - Sunday, May 06, 2007
• Free Teleclass for Animal Lovers! pril 17, 2007 - Monday, April 16, 2007
• Blessing of the Animals Book Trailer - Friday, April 13, 2007
• Fan Mail - Monday, March 06, 2006
• Happy New Year! - Monday, January 02, 2006
• Hurricane Katrina's Animal Victims Get Help - Saturday, September 03, 2005
• Fawnskin Flyer - Monday, August 22, 2005
• Blogging Along - Wednesday, July 27, 2005
• California Earthquakes - Friday, June 17, 2005
• Big Cat Faux Paws... - Saturday, June 11, 2005
• Cold Snap! - Tuesday, June 07, 2005
• Morning Serenade - Tuesday, May 31, 2005
• Hot, Hot, HOT! - Tuesday, May 24, 2005
• Something fishy is going on... - Thursday, May 19, 2005
• Birds... - Wednesday, May 11, 2005
• Spring Snow - Sunday, May 08, 2005
• Emerging... - Thursday, May 05, 2005
• Winter Weather - Thursday, October 28, 2004
• Fun, fun and more fun! - Sunday, August 29, 2004
• Out & About - Thursday, August 26, 2004
• North County San Diego - Friday, July 30, 2004
• On the road again... - Wednesday, July 28, 2004
• Hammock Time - Tuesday, June 15, 2004
• Busy, busy, busy! - Tuesday, June 08, 2004
• Where does time go? - Thursday, May 13, 2004
• Traveling is nice, but there is no place like home! - Sunday, April 18, 2004
• Life is a beach... - Sunday, April 11, 2004
• Big Bear Blaze Engulfed in Haze - Friday, March 26, 2004
• Spring has Sprung! - Saturday, March 20, 2004
• Chicken Soup for the mountains... - Monday, March 08, 2004
• Snow Day! - Wednesday, March 03, 2004
• Molly, Molly, Molly... - Friday, February 20, 2004
• Home again, home again... - Thursday, February 12, 2004
• Cat got ya? - Tuesday, February 10, 2004
• Tiger Queen for a day... - Monday, February 09, 2004
• We are Siamese...and Birdie TV - Wednesday, January 28, 2004
• Escape from puppy prison - Friday, January 16, 2004
• Puppies are a pain... - Wednesday, January 14, 2004
• On the road again... - Monday, January 12, 2004
• Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..... - Sunday, December 14, 2003
• Humane Holidays - Sunday, November 30, 2003
• Fire Animal Victims - Thursday, November 20, 2003
• Naughty Niece - Friday, November 14, 2003
• San Diego Trip - Wednesday, November 12, 2003
• Home again, home again.... - Thursday, November 06, 2003
• Evacuation--better than the alternative - Wednesday, October 29, 2003
• Edelweiss Book Reception & Road Closures - Saturday, October 25, 2003
• Book & Bean Celebration Lasts ALL Day! - Saturday, October 25, 2003
• Del Lago Book Launch Reception's Tasty Treats - Saturday, October 25, 2003
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