More on Pepper

Yesterday I got an e-mail from the rescue foundation inquiring about how Pepper is doing.

My response was this:

HI!

Pepper is doing pretty good. Sometimes I feel like I adopted a chicken instead of a dog though because she is so wimpy about stuff! =) For example, she will NOT go outside on her own. I have to carry her out there to get her to go pee! ...... Oh and you're right - she hates the TV (you told us about that). She spent most of the evening hiding behind the bed the other night. I hope these are just the results of her in a new environment. What do you think? Maybe I'm just being sensitive?

We need a little work on her car riding behavior. She tries to be a lap dog while I'm driving! Ha! And I just don't think that's safe for either of us. We went on a walk last night and she seemed much more comfortable than she did during her walk on Wednesday night. I'm interested to see how the weekend goes.

Response to me from Rescue:

Hi Jessica, A few suggestions.

1. Don't carry her outside. Clip a leash on her and take her out that way if need be. While she's out, when she goes (on lead or off) say the same thing to her each time, like "go potty" or "get busy" as she's going. Do this on walks, too. Eventually she should connect the two and hopefully you can open the door to the backyard and say "get busy" and she'll know what to do.

2. She did just come from a house with other dogs to a house with no other dogs, so she is used to companionship and I think just wants to have a buddy (you!...lucky you! :-) ) outside right now. As she gets more comfortable this should pass.

3. Inside, get some yummy treats, put her leash on her, stand away from the TV and turn it on, give her a quick treat, turn it off. Do that for a little bit, then increase the time the TV is on before giving her the treat and then also b/t giving her the treat and turning it off...also work up to giving her a treat, waiting, giving her another - keep it random so she doesn't know when it's coming, but have the treats keep coming. The leash is so she can't run off - and don't overwhelm her by being too close or expecting too much, but if the TV on means treats (at least in the beginning while you are training) that is a good thing. You can then transition to actually doing some training (sits, downs, shake, roll over, etc.) while the TV is on.

4. If Dazzle (her dog) had her way, she would also be in my lap while I'm driving and she's bigger than Pepper! For Pepper I recommend getting her a harness that can be buckled in to the seatbelt and you can secure her in the back seat that way. They make them so dogs can sit or lie down in them but can't move around enough to get in the front seat.

I'm out all day tomorrow at an agility trial, but you can always call me if you need me. Hopefully things continue to go well and if I don't hear from you I'll just check in next week some time.

Regards,Janeen