Hudson's Comeuppance
On the weekend my inlaws were over and he was a jerk (Rudy was pretty good, on the other hand). Hudson was crazy, jumping, and kept climbing all over company while crying like an idiot. The next morning his Daddy and I had a state of the union discussion. He loves to sleep in our laps, and we love it too, so we've been letting him climb up whenever he wants, and it's not been a good thing. So Sunday and Monday it was Operation Attitude Adjustment. I've been making him sit (Cesar style...no words, just the calm assertive stance), and denying him access to the couch UNLESS he sits nicely AND I initiate it. And since he doesn't like me telling him when he can do it, he's really been off the couch and on the floor a lot. Meanwhile, Rudy who has good manners has seen what's been going on with Hudson and has stepped up his respect game even more. (He always defers to us anyway, except with other dogs, so he's not hard to manage in the house.) Monday morning, Hudson spent twenty solid minutes trying to get up on the couch. I said, "no" and blocked with my foot, then getting up and making him submit. He was MAD and paced the whole time, finally giving up and laying down on the floor for good. I came home from work and went to let Hudson out. He paused at the door (on his own), looked at me, and waited to be told to go. (Wow.) He kept a respectful distance while I got his kibble, and laid on the floor watching. He's never been bad, but he's always been glued to my leg, dancing while I prepare his food. He did not even try to come up on the couch that night, and when he stole a pen later from the chair (shouldn't have been there of course) for the first time in his life, he dropped it and walked away when I said, "Drop it." I'm sure there will be lots of bumps and glitches in our new regime, but it's interesting how quickly we got his attention. Now I just have to get hubby to understand that he needs to do the same. Hudson can be a really nice dog to live with...it all really does depend on us. |
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| i can just hear mr. rudy lol at hudson!! |
After reading your story (  ) I had to go back and re-read your last sentence 5-6 times. How true that is for anyone who has a pet.traciels28 wrote: Hudson can be a really nice dog to live with...it all really does depend on us. It's also a gentle reminder to ME that hubby and I need to set some rules for the bed. More often than not I get kicked to the bottom folded into a tiny ball so we all fit, which makes for a crabby Jen in the morning. |
| That last sentence really does ring true. It's great how they pick things up with (relative) ease and then apply it to new situations - really makes the effort so worthwhile. We also have similar sofa battles (although not quite so succesful!) where Saxon thinks he's allowed to be on the sofa and climbs up at any available opportunity (we have a strict no dogs on the furniture rule, which Inca has rarely challenged). I've taken to grabbing a toy to get him down because voice commands just don't cut it. I think body blocking might be the way for us to go too - I'm just not quick enough to get in the way sometimes... and I'm not sure what his 'reward' would be since he's not allowed up there anyway.. but glad to hear it worked for you  Something for us to think on..  |
| Some stuff is sounding familiar. Wayne couldn't work out why Tiggy refused to come thru the baby gate into the kitchen when he wanted to go out and she was going for a walk come hell or high water. She NEVER refuses to come when I tell her to. He ended up leaving her up the bedroom end of the house  When I asked why he didn't just take a slip lead up and put it on and make her come he looked quite puzzled.  He rarely makes his Princess do anything she doesn't want to. |
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