Re: Go Dog Go-update

["Judi A. Luallin" <legsjal1@home.com>]

Hi to everyone on the list!  I'm the newcomer that thought I was
replying back to Gina and shared my comments with you - unbeknownst to
me!
Sorry for any confusion!  I'll get it eventually - computer savvy - that
is! :) 

My name is Judi Luallin.  My husband is David.  We have two children -
Nick who is 14 and Brooke who is 10.  We are also the proud owners of a
Brier Golden.  His name is T.J. and he is from the May 99 Beverage
Litter of Meg and Triple.  (By the way, he is gorgeous, or I guess I
should say - quite "handsome!")  We're not proud of him at all!

Gina mentioned we have had trouble with T.J.'s mouthing.  He is right at
18 months old and he has had this habit ever since he was about 5-6
months old.  He wants to put any new person in his mouth and also has to
mouth and grab us anytime he hasn't seen us for a period of time, even
an hour or two.  We have had the best success with substituting a toy
(for our hand/body) to be mouthed. :-)  So, as soon as this behavior
starts, we tell him, "T.J. get a toy."  He has learned to go and get a
toy for his mouth.  Then, we proceed to pet him and give him attention.
It was obvious this was a ploy for attention, but, we soon learned that
we were reinforcing the wrong behavior by petting him to get him to stop
the mouthing!  However, being new dog owners, we didn't figure this out
immediately or on our own.  Gina and George have been very helpful with
hints and tips to curve the behavior.  The "toy substitution" has been
very effective.  We also sometimes just walk away and ignore him until
it stops and then we pet him and tell him good boy!

I've enjoyed "listening in" on everyone's stories/anecdotes and look
forward to more of your sharing. I loved that tip about the lavender
oil, I'm very into natural medicine and do extensive study/research into
it, so, I look forward to more sharing on this subject as well! 

Have a great night!
Judi (Judi with an "i" :-)

Gina Heitz wrote:
> 
> >Judy L wrote:
> >  >>He has been such a lover-boy!  He has not been doing hardly
> >anymore of the biting.  I think he was just overly excited yesterday!<<
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Judy is new to the list and will be sending in her intro, but she has a Meg
> Triple boy who does the mouthing that we have discussed previously.  Judy
> and family have done a great job with TJ and getting him to stop for the
> most part.  I asked Judy to please share with us all what they have done to
> help TJ relax.
> 
> Oh and so you all know: the essence that Judy noticed on TJ is a
> conditioner spray called Royal Canine #2.  It's great stuff!  Make the coat
> lay nice and smells great!
> 
> Gina
> who played GO Dog Go today!  Loving the weather!!!