more food and pee

We switched him off the Purina to Wellness Core. A much better dog food. I keep forgetting to taper him off old food to new food. It's supposed to help with digestion. I also bought him salmon Zukes but it turns out he doesn't like it. I'll have to return it to Centinella for the other meat flavor. centinella is my new favorite pet store. they let you return the food if your dog doesn't like it! we also got him a pig ear that he demolished.

He seems a little more unruly on walks lately. He sniffs a lot. I walked him on a different path today and he was almost sniffing the entire time. I'm not sure if i'm supposed to correct him or not as he still stays on the path. I guess i'll let it go for now.

House training issues seem to be the number one issue at the moment. He pee'd again in the 3rd room and he peed a few times in my parent's house. Since this is a dog blog and not a "me" blog, I'll refrain from explaining why his marking in my parent's house pissed me off so much. I ended up buying a black CFL at home depot. I had a plug in auto/garage type lantern that i hooked up the light to. we were able to see any residual stains in the 3rd room with the use of the light. Kinda neat. We've been using a vinegar/water solution to clean up, followed by either borax or baking soda. I think the commercial products are no better than household items.

I emailed the people at Leerburg about Marley's separation anxiety and the whole crate incident. Cindy at Leerburg responded to me.

2 months isn’t very long to clear separation anxiety. Actually, it is many times a lifelong management issue that may be something you are always dealing with on some level. I know this because I own a dog with SA.

I’d use a bark collar and a crate. It’s not about the dog knowing you will return, it’s about the anxiety he feels when left alone. Building up the time you are gone is a good idea but if the dog is ever let out of the crate or room he is confined in while he is still feeling anxious, it will actually reinforce the feelings of anxiety he feels. This is why he goes wild in the crate when you are gone. It’s not the crate that he’s worried about, he’s anxious about being left alone. The problem is that if you don’t deal with this it will escalate, it’s not uncommon for dogs to chew through doors, drywall or hurt themselves in a crate trying to escape.

You will need to give this dog consistent handling to get him through it and it may be a project that gets easier but it may never really be cured completely.

Through various web searches I decided to put the Kong he doesn't chew, back into the game. the other day he amazingly played with it for hours when I put cheese in there. Then the next day when I left i added a little yogurt and "C" said she didn't observe any whining. Today I left him a frozen banana and yogurt mix. We'll see how it goes. I have a feeling it'll be a mess but oh well. Price you pay for having a dog.

Back to the house training... yeah this post is all over the place. I put his favorite pillow in the room and give him snacks. I spent some time with him in the 3rd room as well. I've been feeding his meals in that room for a few days. I think he won't pee in that room any more. I've also been giving him a verbal cue when he goes pee outside ("go pee!"). Now i'm not sure if i'm supposed to repeat it over and over while he pee's... but i did do that. I was previously telling him, "go pee", and then praising him while he did it and instantly stopped. that obviously wasn't a motivator. this time i repeat the cue and give him a snack when he's done. he's learned to expect a treat when I say that. hopefully he'll hold it when he's indoors (any indoor place) because he'll be waiting for me to give him the cue/treat.