Meet ROCKY

So here's our sweet puppy... Scott named him "Rocky" (surprise, surprise). We don't know what breed he is...but he doesn't look like a boxer does he? hahahahaha

He is so different from Duke. Already he is responding 'submissively' to things like NO and OFF, where as Duke was a growler and a biter from the beginning.

We practiced the OFF command yesterday (I hold his food bowl in my lap and wait until he sits quietly before feeding him) and he learned really quickly. Just this morning when I was preparing his breakfast he was yipping and jumping and so excited... I sat down to practice the off command. He hopped on me, and when I was OFF he stepped off my lap and let a little whine. He growled a little, so I said No Growl! and I put him in the 'cradle and hold' ( The 'cradle and hold' puts the dog on it's back, which a dog does naturally in the wild to show his submission to a dominate dog.)

I learned so much on the Internet about dogs and the need for a pack leader. I learned that Duke had trouble with submission because he thought of himself as the pack leader with me and Scott. I know now some little things I can do to enforce that Scott and I are the dominant so that Rocky will be an obedient and safe dog... for instance

~making Rocky walk beside me, not in front of me while on the leash

~giving Rocky his meal after we've already eaten

~no sitting on the bed or couch

~practicing 'cradle and hold' frequently

~crate training - dogs are den animals and feel safer when they have a retreat

~ignoring him when he demands attention

I've noticed that Rocky loves to follow us when we go room to room, but he doesn't really mind being left alone. Yesterday I left him in the apartment by himself for about an hour while I was cleaning and trying to decorate our new apartment... when I came home, he was just chillin in his crate. I saw that he had played with his toys while we were gone and popped the balloon left over from the Easter party!

Now the only tricky thing is going to be getting the local people to treat him kindly. I think the biggest reason Duke became a biter was because everywhere we went people teased him with food, poked fingers at him to get him to nip and chased him. He became really shy and nervous when we went out.... I hope to share a little knowledge with people that dogs are easy to train and there is no need to beat a dog to get it to obey. (I will also try to convince them that chicken and beef are much better to eat than dog. No kidding! YUCK!)

We love our sweet Rocky!