A new addition to the family

We already have a dog. A dog that we thought is a Miniature Pinscher, but turned out to be something between a Dachshund and a Pug. She’s got all the irritating characteristics of all the breeds. For example the loudest bark ever for such a small dog, and she uses it All the Time!

But she’s our dog, and part of the family! We feel sorry for her being at home during the day when we are not around. Dries wanted to get another dog to keep her company, but I said that one was enough! Because Petite is definitely ENOUGH!

But the clicker dog trainer of earlier this year sent out an email earlier this week that her mother has to get rid of her dogs. One of the dogs is a Miniature Yorkshire Terrier! It stated that the dog works well with other dogs.

Guess what? We got ourselves a new addition to our family: Benji, the Miniature Yorkshire Terrier. Apparently there were ten responses of people who wanted to take the dog, and they selected us as the new family!

Now we’ve got another male in the house! (See also weekend photo of him sitting on my neck on the way back from his owner.)

He is the cutest most chilled-out dog ever. Petite Peu was a bit thrown by this small little thing prancing around, but Benji did not seem to be bothered at all. He spent the most of today marking his new territory. We did not know a small little dog could pee so much. He also marked the teen’s room! We think it is because Petite Peu had a few accidents there when she was younger...

Tomorrow our vet neighbour is going to clean his teeth, because he’s got the worst teeth ever! (Is that a flaw of the breed, or did he get too many snacks from the previous owner?)

Hope we haven’t got ourselves twice the dog trouble than before? Thumbs crossed!

But he is super cute, and the toddler is impressed with the dog that lets her stroke him, and does not want to chew and bite the whole time...

The Dog - part of the family

Our little Petite Peu (“little bit” in French) dog is part of the family. We have been a very reluctant family. But slowly she has made it into our hearts (sic), and into our living room. She made it into Arnia’s room (and bed) as well, but lost the privilege when the teen’s room started to smell...

The normal doggy stuff still gets to us, especially when she upsets the neighbourhood, such as the VERY LOUD barking. Or running around like a dog on espresso when she gets out of the garden. Or jumping up on our guests. I am sure the Dog Whisperer would have a field day at our house. We know now that it is not the dog, but the OWNERS who are the problem! (Guilty!)

The clicker training helped some, but also guilty! We did not continue with it...

The bark is the worst. It seems abnormal for such a small dog to have such a loud yap! She is supposed to have been a Miniature Pinscher, but turned out to be a cross with a Dachshund and some other genealogical mixes on her family tree. She got the loudest and most irritating bark of them all! The toddler has been copying her Dad: when Petite Peu barks, she calls out “Hay!” while showing the little finger! We cannot help but smile every time it happens.

But strangely we like our little dog more and more, and love it when she awaits us with her welcoming yaps! She stays in our vicinity while we are busy or watching television; moving with us when we does; and sleeps in her doggy bed at our feet. We have even caught Dries with the dog on his lap, even though he threatens to not take her to the vet ever again, or to help her out of her existence here on earth... (But who is the one who takes her to the vet every time? Or make sure that she has her extra blanket with her?)

This dog is more work, more money and more everything than we anticipated... The thought remains that another dog would have been easier. (?) But now we have our “little bit” of Big Trouble! Part of our family!

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Petite Peu of a mistake

Clicker training #8: CRazy, psycho dog got her certificate

Clicker training #8: Crazy, psycho dog got her certificate

The dog completed her clicker training, and got a diploma certificate awarded to her:

“This certifies that
Petite Peu
Has successfully completed

Puppy 2

And is hereby awarded this diploma by

The Eukanuba Puppy School

For extremely gifted pooches”

Yeah, right! ;-)

But I must give credit. I never thought we would be able to get her to do most of the things that we are now able to get her to do with treats.

The teen and the boyfriend took the dog through her last training, while we were watching. The dog was sitting and watching them intently (mostly because she knows there’s food involved – but that’s what it is all about), and did most of the commands very well. She did not respond at all when the teen only had to call out the commands without the hand signal. She gave them a blank look, and that was that... Very funny!

The trainer called her crazy and psycho dog, again.

We will not be going back for the advanced training. It is possible that she would be able to advance from where she is now. But we have had enough, for now! We want our Saturdays back to ourselves. We think we accomplished most what we set out to do. If only to understand our little bit of a dog a little bit better... She is a bit of crazy, but she is our bit of crazy!

I have learnt something about behaviour as well, which can be successfully used for the toddler as well. Catch them doing something well, and reward that. Ignore the rest!

Crazy dog: Clicker Training #7

The dog trainer: “Come here, you little crazy dog! Are you a crazy dog?” Patting the dog on the head.


It is nearly the end of our clicker training sessions. We see her respond to our commands, or some of them... When we get her to focus... Sometimes...

But Petite Peu is still all over the place. If ever there was a dog that needed Ritalin, it is this one!

The teen was walking the dog at the training grounds when a lady with her dog from the previous session started to walk a circle around them: “Ooh, there’s that overexcited dog again!” Arnia felt offended... (I think it is the same with busy children. You somehow feel responsible for them being so excitable; even though it is an inborn genetic trait.)

Did I mention that our Petite Peu; which means Little Bit in French, is also not so little bit anymore. She is even bigger that a Dachshund.

Maybe we should call her our Little Mistake? It was a mistake to buy a dog at a pet shop, and we should have looked more closely at the type of breed we wanted. (But she is here to stay; do not worry. Smile!)

Mieka and the dog played with her wax crayons this afternoon. Mieka throws a crayon to the ground and Petite Peu grabs it and chows it. I caught her time and again feeding the dog the crayons, although I reminded her again and again not to give it to the dog. They are a naughty team together...

Weekends of gratitude

Love, love, love weekends with the family. Especially during these long summer months. (It feels as if our summer is never going to end his year. No complaints from me!)

Tomorrow we have an extra public holiday. (Something we always wish for after a busy weekend)!

Grateful for time spent with friends! Friday and Saturday visiting friends, and celebrating a first birthday!

Grateful for time spent with the children! Especially because we are working, and don’t get enough time during the week.
· Mieka has been speaking non-stop this weekend. The mermaid-speak is very serious business now! (Smile)
· She is much better now. Only struggling a little bit with a slimy chest.
· Arnia played hockey again on Friday evening, and was totally exhausted. Luckily she could sleep in both days.

I finally had time to spend my Poetry gift voucher. They have such beautiful clothes... I can walk into their stores at any time, and make a different choice every time. I feel very spoilt! Thank you, Hubby, for the beautiful gift! (No wonder Shayne raves so much about it.)
The card included with the purchase comes with the following quote:

“She walks in beauty, like the night
OF cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes”
- Lord Byron

(Photo: Arnia with Petite Peu on Saturday with clicker training #6)

Clicker training #5

I was waiting for the dog trainer on Saturday to call our dog “pycho dog” again. I wanted to question her about it. Maybe she thought about it as well, because she did not do it again...
Petite Peu really did well with her commands on Saturday. I felt that she and I were getting on very well. She is getting used to me being the Alfa dog as well, and not only the teen. (The teen is occupied with hockey on Saturdays.)
The dogs were taught to go through a tunnel. It is not that difficult when food is thrown through the tunnel, and they are being called to the other end of the tunnel. The dog trainer made the tunnel longer and longer, and the dogs had to run through. It is a bit scary, because you have to let go of the leash. I am still not sure that I will be able to get Petite Peu coming back to me when she gets a free reign in the park. She wants to take on all the big dogs that are in the class with her. Very cheeky!
Dries is still threatening the dog’s survival when she barks her very loud barks in the house, or when she starts barking at the neighbours outside, or when she makes a dash for the gate. Translated: he threatens every day to get rid of her...
The toddler enjoys the dog the most. We sometimes catch her feeding the dog some of her food through the gate. She laughs when the dog bumps into her, and she laughs when the dog licks her face and hands. She also finds it irresistibly funny to kick at the dog when she is underneath the chairs; which makes the dog bites at her feet. She is not at all bothered by the liveliness of the dog’s nature. She gets the dog more than we do!

Related post:

Psycho dog

Psycho dog

Clicker training #4: I had to take the dog through her training on Saturday, because the teen was busy with hockey. The dog is doing “sit” and “paw” and “lie down” very good by now, but I struggled to get her to learn the new stuff. The teen gets more out of the dog...
The “look” command was not too difficult, but the “stay” command did not really make an impact. Petite Peu was tired after half an hour, and the treats not that inviting any more. She was lying in the shade, panting, and I struggled to get her to get up again. In the end the trainer said I could practise the “stay” command by letting her be, showing her the hand, and rewarding her for staying where she was. (I am not sure she made the connection?)
Walking with her in an eight-figure circle proved to be impossible. I got tangled in her leash, and could not get her to walk the desired way. We will have to practise more...
Petite Peu also barked at all the other dogs, and at one stage we got tangled with another dog (cross-breed fluffy dog), and fluffy dog yelped in distress. Fluffy dog got so traumatized that her owner had to walk her up and down for the rest of the class...
I got a ball on a stick to show to Petite Peu. She had to sniff it for me to treat her. Petite Peu was scared of the stick-ball. In the end I had to reward her for looking in the direction of the ball. The goal is to get the dogs to follow the stick with their noses (without the use of a leash). Apparently it is going to take a bit longer to get Petite Peu to learn this trick...
I was a bit taken aback by the trainer calling our little bit of a dog “psycho dog”. Does she know something that we don’t?

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Clicker training #3

Clicker training #2

Clicker training #1

Clicker training #3

The dog is able to roll over (sleep, play dead, and roll over) and creep. But not yet walk with us...

She got so excited with seeing and sniffing the other dogs, that we had a hard time to get her to focus. But that is part of the training, getting her to get used and socialized with other dogs. For a third lesson it really went well, and we are even more amazed at how much can be accomplished with treats and a click!
Petite Peu is a highly excitable dog. To get her to walk next to us you have to start walking in another direction when she starts pulling on the chain. And give treats when she walks where you want her to go. Eventually she will learn that she will get to where she wants to go if she stays with you! It makes a whole lot of human sense! Hopefully dog sense to our little bit of a dog as well!
Dries is threatening her existence more regularly now! It is only verbal at this stage! We (not including Dries) love our little bit of a wild dog! We will have to increase our practising with her during the week... (Thumbs crossed!)
(Photo: Arnia trying to get Petite Peu to get up and go in another direction.)

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Clicker training for the dog week 2

Dog (owners) clicker training

Clicker training for the dog (week 2)

“Petite Peu! Come! Sit!” Click! Snack!
“Petite Peu! Lay down!” Click! Snack!
The dog is sitting and laying down on command! But when she got to the dog training grounds on Saturday, she was all over the place. Strange dogs and people, and smells…
Dog, and dog! “Yap!” People! “Yap!” Smells! Birds! Trees!
“Yap! Yap! Yap!”
“Yap, yap, yap, yap!”
We love our Little Bit of a dog, but she gets a bit much with her constant barking! Nicola (the dog trainer) is positive, telling us that she is very smart, and the more we get her to listen to us, the less she will spend time barking. And hopping all over…
Arnia and I had to call her, and when we go her attention, to get her to sit and to lie down. Arnia had to count to five seconds, before she gave her the snack. It worked for a couple of times…
Nicola says that next time we are supposed to not give her food before we go to the training classes. She turned fussy on us half-way through the class!
The bigger dogs seem to learn a bit quicker. There was a German Shepherd puppy with us in the class, and he was not fazed at all by the yapper!
The owner showed us a few TTouch massage techniques to calm her down at the class, but I did not see much of a difference. Arnia and I have been trying to massage her over the weekend, but it is more like trying to pin her down to not being chewed than to get a good rub in.
We will get there… I really hope so, because Dries is threatening to kick her, and the threats are getting more violent by the day! I was listening to a phone message at work – his cell accidently phoned my work number – while he was busy running after her when she got out on Wednesday night! Hubby was not a happy chappy…
The clicker training is our dog saver! It must be!

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Dog (owners) clicker training

The dog (actually us) got her first clicker training on Saturday. We thought she was unmanageable and it turns out she is very smart! We bought a Miniature Pinscher, but we got more of a Dachshund in the deal. The constant yapping is a good indication of the mix between the two breeds! Unfortunately you cannot give back a dog like you give back faulty equipment, so we are stuck with her. (And we love those big brown eyes too much in any case). But we had to make a plan to make her more pleasant to be around with…
She was spayed as well on Thursday, and when we got her back, she was the pleasurable dog we always wanted. Shame! It must have hurt, but we enjoyed her lying quietly with us on Thursday evening. Arnia even kept her in her room for the night, but by Friday morning she was her bouncy self again. (What other operations can we send her for? Smile)
I am very impressed with the clicker training. After 30 minutes Arnia got her to sit and to lie down. And we are seeing a remarkable change in her behaviour already! Not the all-over-the-place mad dog we were getting fed-up with! The secret is apparently to catch the dog doing the thing you want them to learn. The dog’s bum hits the ground; click-food. Now Petite Peu sits whenever she is around us. The promise of food works every time.
I was contemplating of incorporating the clicker training in my disciplining of Mieka as well. If it works for dogs, it will surely work for kids as well? Rather catch them doing positive things, than focusing on disciplining the negative…

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The dog