Puppy's mum says: You Can Teach an Older Dog New Tricks

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Do you have a dog, and have questions about how to keep your dog happy? Is your new puppy having trouble settling in? Are you looking for a new puppy and aren't sure where to look?

I would love to help you with any of these issues, and more. My husband and I have bred many puppies over the last twenty years, and every puppy born at our home is important to us. Whether the puppy became a show dog or a much loved pet, it always remained 'our' puppy to some extent. We always cared about the wellbeing of that puppy.

I would love to be there for you too, if you have a new dog or pup, or if you're thinking of getting one, I would love to help you make the right choices for yourself, your family and for your puppy or dog.

Ask a question on this website, or make a comment. I'll answer you, I am here for you.


Dec 6, 2009

You Can Teach an Older Dog New Tricks

We all live in imperfect times. This, however, doesn't mean we can't change some things to make them more perfect. Having a dog in your household that disobeys your every word is a pain in the you know what. You can work, though, to change your disobedient dog into a more obedient dog, maybe not a perfect dog, but better than it was.

You too can teach your dog to sit.

At our home we currently have four dogs - one Pharaoh hound male (La De Da), two pharaoh hound females (Ananka and Missy) and one schnauzer female (Nena). Nena is the oldest of our dogs and Missy is the youngest. All of our dogs have some idea of what Sit! means. Nena always sits when she is told to sit, La De sits unless there is something exciting happening. Ananka sits when we insist, as longs as we can catch her and Missy is the same as Ananka (her mother).

Pharaoh hounds are quite different in their level of obedience compared to schnauzers. Pharaoh hounds are clever like cats, schnauzers want to do what you want them to do, as long as they understand what you want. It was relatively easy to teach Nena to sit a few years ago as a five year old dog.

La De learned to sit early this year, as a three and a half year old dog. He now sits before he gets his tea, and whenever I tell him to sit inside. If it's not tea time and La De is outside, his sitting is erratic if his sister and his mother are being crazy barking at birds (this is what they mostly do when they're outside).

But La De is getting better with his sitting, as long as all of us in the family are consistent - if we sy sit, we all make sure we make La De sit. La De is a good boy and he obviously wants to do what we want him to do, because he loves the reward of being told he's a good boy and getting fussed over.

Our pharaoh hound girls though get most of their rewards in life from the joy of the chase, and they love barking and chasing the birds. They are both works in progress, and I still hope that one day, their sitting will be as good as Nena's and La De's.

I hope you can get some hope or comfort from this little blog post. Or you may have a totally obedient dog and if so I am incredibly jealous! But I love my dogs, even if they're not perfect, and I know that they are as obedient as I have taught them to be - any failings are my fault, not theirs (except for Ananka - her failings are all her own doing!).

May your pack be a good pack!

4 comments:

Sonya Galea said...

Loved your post about your pharaoh hounds Carolyn! There is a sure fire trick to make a pharoah hound sit. Show her a treat that you know that she loves eg a dog biscuit, and don't give it to her until she obeys. I had a pharaoh hound for seven years and I love her like crazy ( I am Maltese by the way).I know this breed can be very stubborn but you can rest assured that they are cunning enough to understand what their owner wants from them - the only problem is that they decide wheter to obey or not, unless you are really really strict with them.

Carolyn Cordon said...

Hi Sonya,

I always say Pharaoh Hounds are clever like a cat - they do what they want first, what you want second. Not like our other breed, the schnauzer, who want what you want first, them second. Pharaoh Hounds are heaps of fun to live with though!

Carolyn Cordon said...

Well hello to both Sonya and Anonymous. I agree that the Pharaoh Hound will do what you want it to, if your can convince them it's worth it to obey you.
With a Schnauzer, they have an innate desire to do what their pack leader wants them to do.

With a Pharaoh Hound they are more willing to be the pack leader if their humans don't do the job right. I feel, as well, that the Pharaoh Hound is more 'natural' than many other breeds, so their domestication isn't as strongly ingrained perhaps.

An interesting fact is that Pharaoh Hound bitches only come in season once a year, not every six months, which most dog breeds do. Wolves only come in season once a year, so this gives weight to my view about them being more 'natural'.

Carolyn Cordon said...

I think people who don't say who they are are a little rude, you know? So, unless you are ashamed of yourself, why not say hello properly?