Cling-On

Since JoJo was my first dog as an adult (I had dogs when I was a kid, the hubby didn't), we had no clue on anything. Housebreaking, training, chewing, it was all a big unknown for us. So we bought this GREAT FANTASTIC book called "Super Puppy". I recommend it to all new dog owners out there. It's concise, with 1-3 pages for each topic. I can't tell you how many of these books I've given away just so there would be more super puppies out there.

Anyway, one of the areas we were most freaked about was housebreaking. We knew (from the book) to let her out often, after eating, after playing, after napping... But we were still freaked about accidents. It's funny, now accidents are nothing to us when we get a new puppy. Must be that "first child" syndrome.

So, we decided one way to combat accidents was to keep JoJo with one of us at all times. If I was in the living room and she started leaving down the hallway, I'd call her back. If I was going down the hall to the bathroom, I'd take her with me.

This really didn't work. Accidents will happen, that's why they call them accidents. But what we did succeed in doing was creating a doggie cling-on. JoJo wouldn't leave my side. She wound up, as a young adult, having terrible separation anxiety if we left her in the house to go out. But this behavior I think was what made her such a good service dog. She was ALWAYS by my side, always ready, willing, and able to work at a moments notice.

I used this knowledge with my next two sdog puppies. With both Frankie and Willie, I literally "attached" them to me with a light-line tether for the first 6 months of their lives. With Frankie, we put a gate up in the entrance to my studio to keep him in here with me. And boy, does this work. It cements that needed bond very early on.

Right now, Willie is laying next to my recliner, and Frankie is laying behind it. The only drawback to this: I'm always in proximity for doggie farts.

Gotta take the good with the bad!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Funny you mention the phrase cling on. I used it when my children (human) were small. Actually, my middle son was "The Cling-On King". He was sick when he was a baby and only wanted mom. Regardless what I was doing, cooking, talking on the phone, using the restroom......no matter, he would hold those little arms up & say "hose you".....(hold him)
So I love hearing about the cling-on dog/people.
7:30 PM
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