It Take Determination and Patience... Mostly Patience

Recently, a friend of mine brought her dogs over to my house for a fun play date with my dogs.  It wasn't the first time, and hopefully it wont be the last; however, my oldest dog, Miles, got very possessive and protective over my youngest dog, Mila.  This caused Miles to show some very aggressive behavior towards my friend's dog, Chile, who I could swear Miles was in love with at one point.  This caused us to have to switch out our dogs from outside to inside every 30 minutes to keep them apart, while we tried to hang out.

The truth is, I have seen the behavior starting to develop in Miles.  He has always shown aggression towards strangers through barking (although test him and he would never bite), and recently he has even shown aggression towards Mila on walks when we come across other dogs.  Now normally, Miles is a fantastic dog.  He barks only when strangers come over, he has never had food aggression, he plays gently, he doesn't chew up furniture, he's smart as can be, and he listens to me most of the time.  But now that I have seen him go after a dog, who at one point he loved, I know it's time to address the behavior.

I know it doesn't help that he feeds off of Mila's energy, and that energy comes from Mila being a full Boxer, which are notorious for high amounts of energy.  Because of this reason, I have decided to start with Mila.  Miles becomes an unrecognizable dog when Mila gets over excited.

Anyway, while my friend was over with her dogs, I couldn't help but notice how well behaved they were, not to mention how well they listened to her.  Granted, she constantly had to stay on top of what they were doing, but they really were well behaved.  Her dogs are both older than mine, so she has definitely had time to work with them, whereas Mila is still only 10 months old and has a long way to go.  After talking to my friend about what I do, she agreed that I'm doing the right things, but we both agreed that I can't be afraid, or embarrassed, to discipline them in front of company, which is where my mistake falls.

John and I both enjoy watching "The Dog Whisperer."  We have picked up some really great tips that have helped us, especially with Mila. 

First, we recognize that Mila needs exercise first, discipline second and love third.  This is hard sometimes because we literally both have busy schedules.  John has two jobs and I have one job that requires a lot of my time some weeks.  There are some days that I literally do not get to see the sun because I have been at work that early, and that long.  That's where having two dogs come in handy, they really do wear each other out.  On the days I do have available I try to get them on 1-2 mile walks in the morning and then another .5-1 mile walk at night.  Those are the days Mila seems to do the best.

Second, I try Cesar's technique that requires us to hold her on her side for however long it takes for her to completely relax.  This takes major patience!  I have been on the ground holding her down for as long as 10 minutes before.  That may not seem long, but please, you try it and tell me that it doesn't feel like forever.  Sometimes, it becomes very difficult to stay "calm and assertive," which prolongs the process and tests my patience even more so.  However, once I get her completely calm, she is a whole new dog.  Cesar must know something.

Here is a great example of a dog showing submissive behavior

Next, I realize that I need to look into some training classes.  This is hard, because again, my schedule is inconsistent so it would be hard to watch me waste my money on training classes that I ultimately would not be able to attend.  The next best thing would be to look into a dog trainer that would come to your house.  I know there are some in my area, as I see it advertised all the time.  But to be honest, I have seen enough dog trainers on Cesar Millan's show that need help to know that there are a lot of dog trainers out there that only know enough to get them by.  Again, I would hate to waste my money on someone who only knows the bare minimum.

For now, I'm trying this solo.  So far it has been working, although slowly.  We have friends and family who swear Mila gets better and better with each visit.  For this reason I am going to continue to do what I have been doing, just more consistent and strict.  Once I get Mila and her energy under control, I can then move to Miles and work on his aggression.

If anyone has any advice on a well behaved dog, I would love to hear it!  Or, if you also have a dog that has difficulty behaving, share your story as well!

The Lived-In-Look

Recently, my dad's neighbor sold their house to a new couple.  They have had it on the market for 2+ years.  During that time, they had the house staged with furniture and decoration to help give the house that lived in look.  They hired a professional decorator to do it, and may I say that she did a great job (overall).  So when I got a call asking if I wanted any of the framed art from the house I jumped at the opportunity!  Even better, it was all free!

My favorite pictures were placed over this beautiful entry dresser, that I was going to offer to buy from them (if they hadn't decided to keep it).  It was a beautiful dresser with 9 drawers in a square that were each painted a different color, red, gold, dark, light green.  Each of these colors matched the colors in these pictures.

Really pretty colors, imagine them on a dresser with a black outline.

With the leaves in this picture, I thought it would match the cherry blossom pictures I already have in my living room.  After hanging them up, I think I was right!

 

 Next, I got a couple abstract pictures that look great in the kitchen.  Just sitting at the table eating dinner last night made me feel great.  They added so much beauty and for once it was nice not to stare at an empty wall.

Can you imagine how boring these walls before?

The last was a set that has some pretty blues and a little hint of browns.  I was really exited about putting these in the bedroom.  Our sheets are brown and I'm planning on getting a new comforter set with blues and browns.  It is an easy color combination to find and I happen to think it looks great together.  

Wanting and needing are two very different things, and a lot of my decoration ideas have had to be put to the side, so it was definitely a nice treat to get these for free!  It made a huge difference in the rooms they were placed in! 

New Beginnings Can Start in the Middle... Right?

John and I have really been trying to work things out the last few weeks.  The good news is, our problems overall have been fairly easy to fix.  To start, we never were that couple to fight much, there are just so many better things to do with our time.  Don't get me wrong, we bickered from time to time but I can honestly say we never went to bed mad at each other. 
Of course, time apart made certain issues arise and some were unexpected on both ends.  This caused us to fight A LOT!  It just didn't feel like us.  But since we have made the decision to come back together, we have communicated more (still not perfect, but better is an improvement in my book), we laugh more and were appreciating each other more.
For the first time ever, we have been able to talk money.  This is huge!  For the first time, were coming together as a team to make our money go further and go to smarter investments (like paying off our bed).

In the last few weeks, we have been focusing on enjoying each other.  Some of the things we have done is going to a concert, having people over for football (FOOTBALL) and a little celebration I like to call our 5 year anniversary.

Linkin Park & Incubus concert with great friends

So happy to be back together!

A beautiful 5 year anniversary surprise