On Dog Walks and Training

I take Crescence out for a walk outside, every afternoon just after school, whenever I can. She loves going outside. Every time I take hold of her leash she gets all excited and starts to scamper towards the door. Once outside her tail would wag vigorously and she would start running, dragging me from behind. It's really hard to control her when she's excited so I just stand still. When she realizes that she can't get anywhere she calms down and I start walking again.

Crescence would normally stoop down, her nose touching the ground, sniffing anything and everything along the way. She gets startled and would run away whenever tricycles would pass us by. Loud noises scare her so do dogs who would bark at her when she gets too close to their territory. She would cower behind me and her tail would hang down whenever she feels frightened. I would usually take her home after that because that's where she feels safe and secure.

She has grown a lot in her four month's stay with us. I've seen her changed from the shy, timid, sad-eyed pup that I knew of before, into a hyper and energetic dog who would chew on almost everything. Dogs are cute and adorable while they're still young and they usually get pampered for it. When Crescence was first introduced to us, my sisters and I would spend hours watching her. We treated her as if she was our baby and gave her all the love and attention that she could have ever needed. We still love her now, but she's not that adorable anymore. Come to think of it, we were all once cute and adorable but time took it all away, he sure did leave some for me though :)

Crescence is not house trained yet so we have to keep her on a leash to regulate her movement. I've been reading a lot of articles on how to train dogs so that someday, when she knows the do's and don'ts in the house, we could permanently take the leash off her and give her the freedom to roam around the house. Training a dog though is not easy. I tried this afternoon to train her how to sit. With tidbits of adobong pork in my hand, I approached her and enticed her with the treat. She wanted it badly but I didn't give it to her yet because I had to associate the treat with the command I was to teach her. Frustrated, she kept on barking, not knowing why I was just standing there not handing her morsel. Eventually she sat down but when I approached her she stood up and started to jump on me again. I turned away again and waited for her to calm down. When she finally did, she sat down again, and this time she didn't got up. I walked up to her and said 'Sit!', then I gave her the treat and patted her on her head. I did this a couple of times and it worked because whenever I approached her she would sit down and patiently wait for her treat.

She learned fast. Then and there I started thinking of how tomorrow I could teach her to roll over and play dead. She could be the coolest dog ever once I've taught her to do tricks. Proud of what we've had accomplished, I praised Crescence and gave her a pat on her head. After washing my hands I went back to her. "Crescence sit", I said. She just stood there and she stared at me. This time, with a commanding voice, I said, "Crescence sit". She leaped, her front paws touching my chest. Undaunted I tried one more time and said "Crescence sit". She just continued on leaping, bouncing off her leash.

Oh well, I guess it's back to square one. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.

This entry was posted on February 17, 2005 at 6:17 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.