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Saturday, October 6, 2007

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!

16 comments:

Nicole said...

HA! You crack me up! I'm glad the collars are helping. It's not suriprising that Maggie pays better attention. After all, she is a female.

C's Mom said...

That some sizeable humping LOL!

kerri said...

Good to hear the collars are working, we used one for training (hunting and trial dog). Now our dog is 14 and just a big old suck.
I think Diesel is so handsome!!

BrendaR said...

TMI, Christine, TMI!! :)
Those collars have worked wonders, though! Walked by the other day and they didn't even bark.

redmaryjanes said...

Our collar was a big help with Cooper. Larger dogs need a different approach than smaller ones.

mommy24treasures said...

wow the zap collars sound great! That is funny that just like a child they figured out you couldn't come runnng! I can see you know screaming and them ignoring. Too funny.
We have a friend that has an Australian Shepherd and Caitlyn looves him. I wish daddy to treasures would let us have a big dog. He complains about tiny ones though, so I know he would drive me crazy about a big one.

Abby's Mom said...

Too Funny :) They are beautiful puppies!

Jeff and Valerie said...

Nothing wrong with a little juice. He is gorgeous!

Don and Lisa Osborn said...

Thanks for stopping by our blogs. I love Maine. In fact we moved here from Brunswick.

You have a lovely family--dogs and all!

Have a great day,
Lisa

Steffie B. said...

I had a collar like that to train our lab as well. It works wonders. Do you leave the collars on so they "think" they need to be good?

Steffie B. said...

It also works on husbands and children!

JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!! ;)

Christy said...

We had to get a zap coller for my lab a few years back. Funny story: I had just got the collar and put it on Sadie and when I went to zap her she had no response. So I readjusted it and again- no response. I upped the "juice" but still nothing. I finally got the "juice" to a 10 and still nothing so I just gave up and thought it didnt work on her. We got home and she was jumping out of my car and started to run away (hence the reason we got the collar)and a car was comming so I yelled at her and zapped her at the same time. I expected nothing since it had not worked before, but she yelped the loudest yelp I had ever heard-- tucked her tail between her legs and wouldnt leave my side. It was so sad and funny at the same time. Remember when I last tried it at the dog park it was at a 10 so when I zapped her in the yard it was on a 10. Needless to say, I did not have many issues with her running away again. I swear, it worked immediatly!! Love the zapper.

Your dogs are adorable-- 6 months and 70 pounds-- BIG DOG!!!

Christy :)

Steffie B. said...

Wish you lived closer too! ;) Have a great day!

"M2" said...

do they make em for horses
I have a very large humper who loves to show his stuff right by the road fence when everyone is watching

I chuck pinecones at him when he's going at it. :)

Jen said...

This dog is awesome! I was on your page and my husband walked by and had to look at your dog pics...I hope this doesn't mean dog #2 is on the way ;)

Anonymous said...

eeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww poop. please put the birthday stuff on (mainly dad) lol anyways have fun bye