Diesel Boy & the Juice

This is Diesel, 6 months old, 70 lbs at last weigh in. He's so darned handsome, but he's not the smartest pup of the pair. Diesel is a poop eating, Guinea Hen grabbing, standing on the dining room table eating subway, cuddlebug. Paige loves Diesel. No, she ADORES him. He sleeps with her in her queen bed nightly. They snuggle. He's our big moose.

When we have to go somewhere we can't take the pups, we leave them in the entry room of the house. When we get home, Diesel hears us, and plops his paws up on the window sill, to see who's coming. I should point out the window sill is probably 4+ feet up. Out of the two dogs he's the more easy going pup, and will warm up to strangers sooner than Maggie Moo.

Diesel did try to chomp the satellite repair man, who thought he was the Dog Whisperer. He said, "all dogs love me..." and proceeded to reach his hand out to Diesel, who was in protect mode. Diesel chomped the air towards his hand twice, and Mr. Satellite man re-thought that whole deal! Note to satellite repair man, when a dog is barking, and protecting his property, you might want to re-think the reach out to him that very moment - duh.

Notice the stylish blue collar on his neck. It's a zap collar. Oh, now you think I'm mean... nah. I don't zap him just for fun, honest I don't. The zap collars became almost a necessity when I was here at home all day w/the toddler and 2 pups, and couldn't get around quickly, or well at all (remember, I sprained both ankles, and then there was the shampoo/scooter incident...). We have 3+ acres down a private, dirt road. The pups run free, and stay close to the house. If the pups get too far down on the lawn I would call them back, and they would come pretty well. Well, I guess they figured out pretty quickly I couldn't do anything about it if they didn't (with the bum ankles), so they started to test and push it. They would completely ignore me, and run down to bark at and terrorize neighbors that were walking to get their mail, or whatever. I was screaming out the 2nd story window like a lunatic, for them to come back. Talk about STRESS!!!

So... got the zap collars, one for each pup. I've got the remote. I call them, they ignore me. I give them a little ... juice. Not to hurt them, but to get their attention. Maggie is #1 on the remote, Diesel #2. Different settings for the different dogs. Maggie will come around on a 3 setting, Diesel doesn't even notice unless I've got it on a 6.

It's been 2 or 3 days since they've even worn the zap collars, and they're listening so much better. Today numerous people walked to the mailboxes, and just walked by for a walk, the weather was so nice. The pups alerted me, but stayed either on the porch, or went down a very short distance and sat to protect. They're doing their jobs (protectors), and my stress level has gone down. Yeah for the zap collars!

Oh, and the 'juice' worked wonders for the humping problem we'd been having, too. The DOGS, people... geez!