Take it to the Max!
Created | Updated Jan 13, 2009
Part 4
Recovery Position
When I last wrote, Max was lying in his basket, looking miserable. He'd been suffering from runny poos and lack of appetite all weekend, and when we took him to the vet on Monday he was prescribed antibiotics for an unspecified infection. We gave puppy-training a miss on Wednesday - well, we hadn't had the chance to do any training with him since he'd been ill, and it would be unfair to him and the other dogs to put them together if he was still infectious or susceptible to picking up a bug.
Sea Air
He improved slowly during week - we had our fingers tightly crossed for a speedy recovery, as we had planned to go to Donegal for a long weekend. Holidays with a dog are a bit different to what Bridget Jones hankered after in a weekend mini-break, and I spent long hours searching the net for a self-catering cottage that allowed pets and that was in staggering distance of a pub.
Donegal has lots of holiday homes; however, most of them go for the 'romantic, windswept and remote' feel, whereas we wanted to be close to civilisation. We ended up near Creevy Pier, which had a friendly hotel (no dogs inside, but plenty of tables outside) and a stunning cliff top walk. Max was in absolute doggy heaven being allowed off the leash on the cliff top path, bounding and splashing his way through peaty bogs. Safety point - I made sure there was a fence so that he wouldn't leap over the edge and that there were no sheep about. The scenery was just amazing - surf crashing onto big boulders below us, pale sunlight struggling through the clouds to sparkle on wide Donegal Bay, the Bluestack Mountains mistily grey in the distance.
On the Road
He did well on his first long car journey - Donegal is about 100 miles away and at least 2 hours without stops. He settled down reasonably quickly in the back of the Maxicab, and slept most of the journey. We brought a bottle of water and his water dish with us in case he got thirsty.
Let's Twist Again
Back home, and back to training. After a week's lapse his walking to heel was awful, but with a good handful of liver cake and frankfurters he got back into the way of it after a few days. One thing he seemed to have remembered well was the twist - when walking to heel, use your left hand to describe a circle, anticlockwise, palm facing downwards. Give the command 'twist', and get the dog to turn on the spot. This is a handy technique if you can see joggers or a pram ahead, and want to distract the dog, and keep his attention focused on you.
Ronnie Barker
Our biggest concern is still the waking (and barking) at an anti-social hour of the morning, causing much hair pulling out. We hear him start howling and scratching at 4am, and debate what to do - should we just ignore the barking, so that he doesn't learn that barking gets rewards? (sorry neighbourinos). But then, what if he needs a bodily function, and we're training him not to do that in the crate. Perhaps we should go down let him out, but then put him straight back in the crate with no playing. We've ensured that he's not getting water after about 8pm, and goes in the garden before being put to bed. Maybe we should make lot of noise on the crate every time he barks to stop him? (This was the dog trainer's suggestion: I did spend one night between 4 and 5 am playing Who Rattled My Cage, and Squirt Me With Your Water Pistol, but it had zero effect on the dog's barking and a seriously bad effect on my temper).
Citronella collars were much in evidence during research on the Internet - they can be set on or off, and release a spritz of citronella, which dogs hate, if they bark. At least they're one step down from the shock collar, which achieves the same result with a mild electric shock. Not too happy about that approach.
After much discussion, we decided to try the ultra-sonic collar, which emits a noise that humans can't hear but that dogs dislike when he barks. It's got a money back guarantee - how can we fail? Sorry, that's just the sleep-deprivation talking. At least the 5am starts mean that I am getting a lot of reading done, which is nice.
