The Law Of Unintented Consequences...

This forum is all about training and behavior. Everything from potty training to working titles!

Postby amazincc » September 21st, 2010, 2:49 am

aka. How I Accidentally Taught My Dog A Lesson Tonight! :dance:

Sepp, on occasion - and more than anyone else - likes to test me... keep me on my toes... flex his muscles... explore the boundaries of my patience... whatever he wants to call it.
I personally call it "being an asshat" and "getting on my nerves", but I'm willing to admit that our opinions on the subject of obedience differ greatly from time to time. I also suspect that my various reactions to his asshattery are a source of great amusement to him and the other dogs because every so often I hear distinct giggling behind my back while I'm in the midst of a frustrated fit... only to be met by five pairs of wide, innocent eyes when I turn around to catch the giggler in the act. >( :x

Tonight was such a night... Sepp was annoying as all get out. He wouldn't bring the ball back. He peed on Daisys head. He knocked over Beezus like a bowling pin, several times, and on purpose. He tried to hump Fausts head while Faust was "taking care of business", and so on... and so on. :bs: :nono:
Finally I decided to call it a day because there was something I wanted to watch on TV. All the dogs filed through the door except... yup - Sepp. Sepp dove under the porch swing and no amount of calling and coaxing made him obey. Oh, I heard his tail wag enthusiastically all 500 times I said:"Seppel, COME!", but nothing short of me climbing under there and dragging his 60+ pounds out by the ears was going to make him move. Grrrrrrr.
So, I decided to pick my battles... take the high road... be the bigger man... (plus, the TV thing was going to start any second and I didn't want to miss it)... I ignored my dogs blatant challenge of my pack leader-ship, turned off the porch light, and went in the house w/out him.

As the evening went on I passed out some treats, watched my show, played around on the computer... after an hour or so things were back to normal and pretty soon all the dogs were snoozing in their assorted favorite spots.
Every now and then I heard some faint grumbling-whining... the kind of noise dogs sometimes make in their sleep while they're dreaming, and I really didn't pay much attention to it.

About thirty minutes ago I noticed that the grumbly-whiny noise was accompanied by some heavy breathing and snuffling... and seemed to come through my living room window. Weird, I thought, I wonder how an inside sound travels like that and appears to come from outside - until I realized that I had forgotten all about poor Sepp on the front porch!!! :shock: :o :shock: :o :shock: :o :shock:
In dog years I had left him out there in the dark for close to 28 hours... O.M.G. :( :cry: :sad2:

I don't know why he didn't bark once... or scratch at the door...??? Maybe because Mom usually frowns upon those behaviors, and he knew that he was already in deep doo-doo??? Oh, the GUILT and the SHAME I felt for having been so pre-occupied w/other things and having left my baby boy to fend for himself... :cry2: :cry1:

As soon as I opened the front door Sepp did a WILD happy dance for about 30 seconds... and then sat down, giving me his full and undivided attention PLUS eye contact. This is virtually unheard of - Sepp usually needs TIME to focus on anything, especially when he's excited. :shock:
He then proceeded to walk quickly but calmly into the house when I told him to come in. YES!!! Quickly but CALMLY, I said. :shock:
This was followed by another hour of bringing me all his toys and dropping them at my feet, an assortment of unsolicited sits, downs, high fives, and intermittent loud sighs while gently placing his head on my knee... who is this dog, and what have THEY done to my pushy obnoxious bratty one??? :shock:

I can't say that I don't enjoy this new and improved Seppel, and I intent to take full advantage of his new attitude for as long as it lasts. I also decided to forgo any and all tearful apologies on my part, as not to spoil our special moment or to cause unnecessary confusion about who was at fault for what. The poor thing was traumatized enough for one evening is what I'm thinking... no need to add to it by crying and wringing of the hands, or beating myself about the head... we must move forward instead of living in the past! It's the only way to cement our relationship and bring meaning to this unfortunate incident...

I know Sepp feels the same way. Right now he's in the bathroom, scrubbing the toilet w/a tooth brush... and I'm pretty sure I can expect breakfast in bed in the morning. :D
That, or he's gonna pee in my shoes while I sleep.
It could go either way once he really thinks about what I did to him.




:neener: :giggle:
User avatar
amazincc
Jessica & Mick
 
Posts: 9814
Location: Holding them both in my heart.

Postby pitsnok » September 21st, 2010, 3:24 am

In dog years I had left him out there in the dark for close to 28 hours... O.M.G. :( :cry: :sad2:


:ROFL2:

This made me laugh SO hard!!


Poor Sepp. At least he seems to have learned his lesson... or better yet, how to pretend like he has!
~Brittany, Degan and Harlow's mom


"It is true that Pit Bulls grab and hold on. But what they most often grab and refuse to let go of is your heart, not your arm."
User avatar
pitsnok
Hyper Adolescent Bully
 
Posts: 365
Location: Edmond, OK

Postby SLS61185 » September 21st, 2010, 3:28 am

Lol. He's plotting against you probably... I'd keep one eye open when you go to sleep... For a few days, atleast! And he peed on Daisy's head?! Was that one on purpose too, or was she just in the wrong place and the wrong time? lol.
Stac

Today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday - Unknown
User avatar
SLS61185
Snot Nose Bully Pup
 
Posts: 153
Location: Spotsylvania, Virginia

Postby amazincc » September 21st, 2010, 3:38 am

SLS61185 wrote: And he peed on Daisy's head?! Was that one on purpose too, or was she just in the wrong place and the wrong time? lol.


Sepp is usually a squatter... but it's entirely possible that Daisy placed her head under his lifted leg today. :| :rolleyes2:


lol
User avatar
amazincc
Jessica & Mick
 
Posts: 9814
Location: Holding them both in my heart.

Postby pitsnok » September 21st, 2010, 4:41 am

I love knowing that 'my' boys aren't the only squatters. I swear NONE of the three males we have hike their leg! Even the two that were just neutered five days ago! Crazy!
~Brittany, Degan and Harlow's mom


"It is true that Pit Bulls grab and hold on. But what they most often grab and refuse to let go of is your heart, not your arm."
User avatar
pitsnok
Hyper Adolescent Bully
 
Posts: 365
Location: Edmond, OK

Postby Ino » September 21st, 2010, 11:52 am

Ino is a squatter unless he has to hike his leg to cover another dogs scent. He also hiked on occasion on the neighbor's shepherd's head. He also used to prop his leg and leave it on her head while she was eating grass without peeing. It was kind of comical because he did it so innocently.
As for the leaving Sepp out there....when Ino is being a hard head and decides to ignore the "come" command, I say "bye" and walk away and that always works with him lol. In NY, if I said it and ducked behind a tree or in the tall grass, he would come running full speed to find me. In our new place, sometimes I have to go in and close the door and turn off the light and bam, Ino magically appears at the sliding glass door ready to come in. I guess it has to do with me saying bye to him when I crate him to leave- he associates it with me disappearing. It may be manipulative, but it works :smileUp: !!!
User avatar
Ino
Hyper Adolescent Bully
 
Posts: 268

Postby HappyPuppy » September 21st, 2010, 12:04 pm

... "asshattery" :giggle: Don't feel bad - I (once) left Ruby in the back yard when we went to bed at like 9pm - until I awoke at like 12:30am to potty and didn't see her! I felt sooooo bad!!!!! (she NEVER made a peep)
Ruby Underfoot, CGC
User avatar
HappyPuppy
Supremely Bully
 
Posts: 1019
Location: Costa Mesa, CA

Postby furever_pit » September 21st, 2010, 2:55 pm

Ah, don't be so hard on yourself. I would have left him outside too.

Glad to hear Sepp was apologetic though. Hopefully the change in behavior will last.
User avatar
furever_pit
Supremely Bully
 
Posts: 1138
Location: NC

Postby SLS61185 » September 22nd, 2010, 12:55 am

Patch squats too. Every once in a while he'll half lift his leg to pee but that's it. Oh and he also pees ON his feet A LOT. The ONLY way he will listen to me most days is if I say "I got daddy... Daddy's ALLLLL mine!" and then touch Mike... Patch doesn't like it, gets jealous and comes running. When Mike was on midnights and I would close at work, If Patch wanted out, he'd let him out and go back to sleep till Patch was ready to come in... There would be days that Mike wouldn't hear Patch bang on the door and leave him out there for an hour or so... Patch never seems to mind. Weird dogs.

How's Sepp doing today?
Stac

Today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday - Unknown
User avatar
SLS61185
Snot Nose Bully Pup
 
Posts: 153
Location: Spotsylvania, Virginia

Postby amazincc » September 22nd, 2010, 1:12 pm

SLS61185 wrote:
How's Sepp doing today?


He has been VERY attentive and well-behaved... when I call him in, he does The Hustle now. I LIKE it. :giggle:
User avatar
amazincc
Jessica & Mick
 
Posts: 9814
Location: Holding them both in my heart.

Postby PoodleMaMaKat » September 22nd, 2010, 1:56 pm

I'm glad Sepp is being such a good boy!

Maybe I need to lock my guys out for a bit... But Kodi can climb the fence and Mia can jump the fence. And I've already delt with a missing dog this week. So maybe not.
Kat
Kodi- Mini Poodle
Mia Puppy - Standard Poodle

If you ever doubt your own beauty, look into your dogs eyes and see for yourself what they see in you.
User avatar
PoodleMaMaKat
Just Whelped
 
Posts: 81
Location: Maryland

Postby amazincc » September 22nd, 2010, 2:02 pm

PoodleMaMaKat wrote:I'm glad Sepp is being such a good boy!

Maybe I need to lock my guys out for a bit... But Kodi can climb the fence and Mia can jump the fence. And I've already delt with a missing dog this week. So maybe not.


Oh, I could never leave Houdini unsupervised in the yard! :shock:
I have a huge gated porch he can't escape from... you're welcome to borrow it for any and all needed attitude adjustments. lol :wink:
User avatar
amazincc
Jessica & Mick
 
Posts: 9814
Location: Holding them both in my heart.

Postby hugapitbull » September 22nd, 2010, 5:56 pm

That is a great story. I love that he is so attentive now! Who would have thought :|
Shanna & Spirit Trouble
We beat osteosarcoma - 27 months 20 days cancer free
'Spirit' Trouble departed for the Bridge 3/16/2011 a victim of aging
Visit - http://k9cancer.org

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain--and most fools do. ~Dale Carnegie
User avatar
hugapitbull
The Better Half
 
Posts: 1570
Location: My heart lives at Rainbow Bridge

Postby airwalk » September 22nd, 2010, 6:02 pm

Oh lordy, thank you for the laugh. It's so nice to know that I'm not the only one!
User avatar
airwalk
I live here
 
Posts: 3791
Location: Oregon

Postby mnp13 » September 22nd, 2010, 10:26 pm

The "silent treatment" is a great way to get them to pay attention to you - if you use it wisely. He is now offering behaviors to solicit attention, don't take him up on those offers, that is the key. When he gives you a toy, take it tell him good boy and then keep it. Wait a minute or two, then play if you want to.

You taught him a very important lesson, and one that he obviously did not like. Don't come in when you're called, and the door will close and life will go on inside while you sit out here all by yourself. Alone.

GOOD FOR YOU! Now keep it up and you'll have him actually behaving all the time! :shock:

You also taught yourself an important lesson: don't give commands that you can't/won't back up. :wink: The next time you tell him to come in and he doesn't, turn around and shut the door. But set a timer for 5 minutes so you remember to go get him. :doh:
Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
User avatar
mnp13
Evil Overlord
 
Posts: 17234
Location: Rochester, NY

Postby dlynne1123 » September 24th, 2010, 10:05 pm

amazincc wrote:aka. How I Accidentally Taught My Dog A Lesson Tonight! :dance:

Sepp, on occasion - and more than anyone else - likes to test me... keep me on my toes... flex his muscles... explore the boundaries of my patience... whatever he wants to call it.
I personally call it "being an asshat" and "getting on my nerves", but I'm willing to admit that our opinions on the subject of obedience differ greatly from time to time. I also suspect that my various reactions to his asshattery are a source of great amusement to him and the other dogs because every so often I hear distinct giggling behind my back while I'm in the midst of a frustrated fit... only to be met by five pairs of wide, innocent eyes when I turn around to catch the giggler in the act. >( :x

Tonight was such a night... Sepp was annoying as all get out. He wouldn't bring the ball back. He peed on Daisys head. He knocked over Beezus like a bowling pin, several times, and on purpose. He tried to hump Fausts head while Faust was "taking care of business", and so on... and so on. :bs: :nono:
Finally I decided to call it a day because there was something I wanted to watch on TV. All the dogs filed through the door except... yup - Sepp. Sepp dove under the porch swing and no amount of calling and coaxing made him obey. Oh, I heard his tail wag enthusiastically all 500 times I said:"Seppel, COME!", but nothing short of me climbing under there and dragging his 60+ pounds out by the ears was going to make him move. Grrrrrrr.
So, I decided to pick my battles... take the high road... be the bigger man... (plus, the TV thing was going to start any second and I didn't want to miss it)... I ignored my dogs blatant challenge of my pack leader-ship, turned off the porch light, and went in the house w/out him.

As the evening went on I passed out some treats, watched my show, played around on the computer... after an hour or so things were back to normal and pretty soon all the dogs were snoozing in their assorted favorite spots.
Every now and then I heard some faint grumbling-whining... the kind of noise dogs sometimes make in their sleep while they're dreaming, and I really didn't pay much attention to it.

About thirty minutes ago I noticed that the grumbly-whiny noise was accompanied by some heavy breathing and snuffling... and seemed to come through my living room window. Weird, I thought, I wonder how an inside sound travels like that and appears to come from outside - until I realized that I had forgotten all about poor Sepp on the front porch!!! :shock: :o :shock: :o :shock: :o :shock:
In dog years I had left him out there in the dark for close to 28 hours... O.M.G. :( :cry: :sad2:

I don't know why he didn't bark once... or scratch at the door...??? Maybe because Mom usually frowns upon those behaviors, and he knew that he was already in deep doo-doo??? Oh, the GUILT and the SHAME I felt for having been so pre-occupied w/other things and having left my baby boy to fend for himself... :cry2: :cry1:

As soon as I opened the front door Sepp did a WILD happy dance for about 30 seconds... and then sat down, giving me his full and undivided attention PLUS eye contact. This is virtually unheard of - Sepp usually needs TIME to focus on anything, especially when he's excited. :shock:
He then proceeded to walk quickly but calmly into the house when I told him to come in. YES!!! Quickly but CALMLY, I said. :shock:
This was followed by another hour of bringing me all his toys and dropping them at my feet, an assortment of unsolicited sits, downs, high fives, and intermittent loud sighs while gently placing his head on my knee... who is this dog, and what have THEY done to my pushy obnoxious bratty one??? :shock:

I can't say that I don't enjoy this new and improved Seppel, and I intent to take full advantage of his new attitude for as long as it lasts. I also decided to forgo any and all tearful apologies on my part, as not to spoil our special moment or to cause unnecessary confusion about who was at fault for what. The poor thing was traumatized enough for one evening is what I'm thinking... no need to add to it by crying and wringing of the hands, or beating myself about the head... we must move forward instead of living in the past! It's the only way to cement our relationship and bring meaning to this unfortunate incident...

I know Sepp feels the same way. Right now he's in the bathroom, scrubbing the toilet w/a tooth brush... and I'm pretty sure I can expect breakfast in bed in the morning. :D
That, or he's gonna pee in my shoes while I sleep.
It could go either way once he really thinks about what I did to him.




:neener: :giggle:

Sometimes ignoring a behavior is the best method of negative reinforcement, or is it positive punishment? I forget, but if all they want is attention, sometimes, as hard as it is, even if on accident, ignoring it helps deter the behavior from being offered again!

Put a timer up next time though! He was probably worried! Worried enough to offer complete, 100% attention!
Ryder - Rescue APBT
Panser on a Roll - APBT (American Bully?)
Gretchen - the red headed cat that thinks shes a dog
Prudence - the new cat on the block to put the dogs in their place!
Punchlines Better Than Lojac - APBT (RIP)
User avatar
dlynne1123
Hyper Adolescent Bully
 
Posts: 289
Location: New England

Postby amazincc » September 24th, 2010, 10:24 pm

dlynne1123 wrote: He was probably worried! Worried enough to offer complete, 100% attention!


He was probably not worried as much as he was "put out" at having to sit on the porch while all the others got a snack... I'm pretty sure he was able to hear, smell AND see it through the screen of the open window. :wink: lol
User avatar
amazincc
Jessica & Mick
 
Posts: 9814
Location: Holding them both in my heart.


Return to Training & Behavior

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users