American Weekend

This 3 day weekend was action packed and huge for Luna!

1. OFF LEASH!

Friday, Drew and I experimented with off-leash potties with Luna. Last time we did this it turned into us chasing after her for an hour, the whole time I was having a heart attack. The Husky in Luna makes her BOLT, and the Lab in her makes her have ADD which makes it hard to get her to "come" when she sees a squirrel. But we have been working on it...slowly. So we decided to take a "leap of faith" and we took off her leash, grabbed a couple motivational treats and opened the door (dun, dun, DUNNNNN)! 

At first she was a little hyper to be off leash but stayed within 15 feet of us and just ran circles and peed. Then we told her to "come" and she did (so we gave her a treat), then told her to "go home" and straight up the stairs she went! SUCCESS!!! Happy parents for sure.

This is a video of Luna when told to "Go Home" after doing her business. (She gets ahead of me but looks back a couple times to see if I'm following).

2. Playing with 5lb Teddy

We went over to Drew's parents' house for Independence Day and Luna got to play with Teddy. I swear, every time we go over there, Luna and Teddy get better and better about playing together. The two got a little crazy when Moxie came around (3 dogs at G-ma and G-pas house can get exciting at first), but then settled down. They went outside and played with bubbles. Teddy was all about them and definitely won first place at popping the most bubbles. Then after a long play day the 3 were exhausted, and fell asleep. 

3. FIREWORKS!

This was the first time Luna would be experiencing fireworks with us. We didn't know how she'd react but seeing that the garbage truck that sounds like a plane crashing into our apartment never phases her, we weren't too worried. And when we walked to Downtown Livermore where they were setting off the fireworks, Luna was intrigued by the lights in the sky. She was staring at them just like she stares at flies, questioning how they got there and how in the world is she gonna get them! All in all a very successful, non-freak-out experience, which is a HUGE relief.

4. OFF LEASH X2!

Saturday, I took Luna to Lake Borris (the off-leash dog lake/trail area in Livermore, behind Shadow Cliffs). It is by far my favorite place to bring her. She can swim, play with other dogs, and get in a nice little tiny hike at the same time. This place is COMPLETELY off leash, and quite frankly it's the best place to train your dog off leash. There's no place the dog can really go and get into any real danger (far from busy streets, and it's basically all in a large ditch). Luna is a HUGE fan of water, I mean she tries to swim in the fountains Downtown, and I don't stop her. 

I decided that this time at Lake Borris, I would try to see how she does off leash on the walk over to the beach (well more like on leash, and I just drop it on the ground and let it drag behind her). I kept treats in hand and when she would get too far I would tell her to come back, and if she listened she was rewarded. She was amazing! I told her to "stay" when I wanted her walking right next to me (which was whenever I saw a dog coming towards us). Then I would have her sit, when the dog and its owner were about 10-15 feet away, and when they passed we would keep walking. 

I'm telling you, it must be a maturity thing, that once your dog hits 1, they listen better and do what you say (for the most part). I don't think that a week ago she would have been able to do this! It's crazy!

So we get to the beach part of the lake and she's playing and swimming and having a great time. Then this 5 month old Black Lab comes around and starts playing with Luna. This was the first time this dog has gone swimming, and the best way to teach your dog something is to have another dog train it! DO NOT EVER THROW YOUR DOG INTO A POOL TO TRY TO HAVE THEM SWIM!!!! EVERRRR!!! (It's like throwing a kid who doesn't know how to swim in the pool, and then they are traumatized for the rest of their life and will refuse to go in the water.) 

When it's time to go (when mom is tired and hot and sunburnt), I decided to put her on the leash again but drop it on the ground for a little. Then a couple minutes later I thought I would try and do NO LEASH AT ALL! And usually (like I said before) she will BOLT like there's no tomorrow. This time? That was not the case. She acted the same as when the leash was on the ground! She was a little more testing her limits but it was okay, she would turn around and walk by my side when I told her to. 

I was such a proud Mama. When we were almost to our car I put her leash back on and a dog who had just arrived was pulling his (or her) owner like you see in those movies. That Lab was easily 90lbs. Big boy (or girl). Then he (or she) just starts barking and barking and BARKING! Meanwhile, I just tell Luna, sit and stay, and she's quiet, just watching this chocolate Lab go berserk. And the owner and family say "Wow! How old is your dog?" And I tell them she's one. And they are shocked since their dog is 5 and "not as well trained." (Clearly a socialization issue). Sorry, was that bitchy? 

Not going to lie, Drew and I have done a great job training Luna on how we want her to act. Of course she isn't perfect and she still makes mistakes, but she's a dog. I'm not a military sergeant training soldiers, I am just a crazy dog lady training her crazy dog. 

Read More

Crate Training Your Pup

I would always go to the dog parks and people would ask me if Luna was crate trained, and I would feel super judged when I said "No..." Everyone acts like crating your dog is the only way to live your life, and if you don't you are just a horrible dog parent. Well let me tell you, it is easier said than done! Putting your dog in a crate was supposed to help potty train them, and keep them out of trouble. From the day we got her, we tried to put Luna in one of those fabric foldable crates with the zippers. Luna HATED that thing. She would cry and cry and cry; I think the experience was torturing Drew and I more than it was actually torturing the dog! We decided that the crate thing just wasn't our thing, so we let the poor tortured pup out of the "death chamber."

Months went by and little Luna was doing great. When Drew and I would go to work we would leave her in our living room area with a baby gate separating her from the bed rooms. She would sleep most of the day, never have an accident, play with her toys, and not get into too much trouble. Then when she was about 9 months old she started destroying all of her fabric toys (basically anything that wasn't a kong). Luna would rip these toys apart and then just swallow pieces of them whole. It got to the point where she would have trouble "pushing" the toy out of her bum, so obviously Mama has to pull it out of her (definitely not the funnest part of being a mom). Clearly this was not a very good practice, and we couldn't let it progress. Drew and I decided that it was her best health interest (and ours) to throw away any "fabric-y" toy that she could tear pieces off of.

The day we threw her toys away, we went to work like any other day, and I came to check on her on my lunch break. Except it wasn't a normal lunch break check up. I came home to a DESTROYED carpet. I panicked. I called Drew up, and sent him a picture of the carpet. A million and a half things were going through my head. How are we going to fix this? How much is it gonna cost? What are we going to do with Luna? Etc, etc, etc... *Cue meltdown* Drew tells me there's nothing we can do about it right now, and to just put a piece of furniture over it, but the thing is WE DON'T HAVE ANY FURNITURE BIG ENOUGH TO COVER THE DAMN THING! So I put a chest on top of the massacre hoping it would deter Luna from attacking it more. I go back to work for another 4 hours. I come home and what's there? MORE FREAKING DESTRUCTION! I couldn't believe it! how is that even possible?? That moment I put my fist down, enough is enough, Luna needs to be in a crate for her own health. Sorry, Charlie, we tried giving you freedom and clearly you can't handle it.

That night we buy a $190 metal crate (the XXL one that Drew could get in and turn around in). We are freaking out, the last time we got her a crate and tried to get her in it she would scream like we were killing her first born child in front of her (vivid, but accurate). Freaking out aside, we know we have to do this and we have no choice. We set up the crate and try to get her used to it by "baiting" her to go in by giving her treats. She was liking it. She would even go in there without us telling her! Luna loved it! We were sooooo relieved. What a huge turn around from the first time we tried to get her in that crate. I think that a lot of it has to do with her maturity. When we first tried it she was young and was already in shock from being away from her mama and siblings. But now she is more mature, and can handle it a bit more. I also think that it has to do with the type of crate we bought. This metal crate doesn't have any "blind spots," she can see right through in every angle. Needless to say, Luna is a happy girl having her own space to herself, and Mom and Dad are happy parents with a less destructive pup.

Moral of the story? If you want to save money on damages, crate your furry friend from the beginning. I know it sucks, but you really don't want to pay for medical bills, or carpet replacements. Speaking of carpet, you may be wondering what we did with that... We decided to just throw a rug ($35 from Walmart) over it. A good DIY carpet fixing :)

Read More