Haha . . . maybe someday!

Well, our Cane Corso puppy is now in his dog teens.  A dog is considered in his/her teens from 9 months to 1 ½ years. This is the time that most dogs are turned over to shelters.  Why, you ask, it’s for the same reason people get frustrated with their human teens. Your sweet baby no longer pays attention or listens to you like they seemed to do just a couple of weeks ago. But you can’t just turn them over to someone else, not that I could a dog either, but that is a whole different blog. The cute cuddly puppy is gone and replaced by a dog trying to test the waters. Now is the time of staying on the disciplines you have hopefully, started from the early cute stages. Exercise is huge a tired dog is a happy, well behaved dog.

But there are some other great things to do as well. I have joined a tricks class. It engages their minds as well as connects them in the relationship they have with you. Using a clicker and some very extra yummy treats we start with the simple hand touch, step onto boards, boxes, etc. It is not about obedience but taking things they already do and building on that, and turning it into a trick. Romeo loves to use his paws, so when he starts to do that we say “shake” and give him a treat.   So now rather than paw at us, he can sit politely and shake.   Next, I want to get the shake to a wave but that will take more practice. He can do the commando, which is crawling and rolling over, but you need a pretty big area for those long legs. He can turn in a circle and is learning how to walk backwards. He loves to carry things so I am fixing up a bucket handle and we are going to teach him to carry it and build up into putting things in it (yah right) but you never know. The great thing is he and I both have fun, he gets to be with other dogs, but not play with them, which is a real challenge for him.  The best part is that it uses his brain and mentally wears him out. Plus, when you have friends over you bring out the dog and entertain them!

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