INDEPENDENT BROOKE

I have had Brooke since she was 8 weeks old and she is the most independent Sheltie that I have ever had. I kept thinking that as she got older she would lose some of her independence . If anything she became more and more determined to have her own way. No matter what I do it is how she wants it. Now at 9 years she is as stubborn as my 7 month old Bonnie. I think that Bonnie is just testing and she sees Brooke doing certain things then she is going to do it too. Brooke hates to go out in the weather, she hates to get her feet wet and like today with the snow I have to actually give her a little push to get her out. You would think when it was time to come in she would run right back in but no she has to play games. Every one will run to the door and come in. Brooke and Bonnie will stand at the door and just look at me .  There are times that I have to go out and basically herd her in. She is barking and wagging her tail and thinks it is a great game. So Bonnie sees this and does the exact same thing. I have started using a treat to get them to come in and I hate doing that as they will get so used to it. Brooke has had basic obedience training and she knows what come means, but if she feels like playing catch me if you can she will do just that. The treats are working and I hope that I will be able to wean them off of them. The others know what is going on, especially Rosie, she does not miss a thing. I have to get every one else up stairs or they will all be looking for a treat. Rosie sneaks back down and the minute the treat hits the floor for Brooke, Rosie steals it. I put Rosie behind the gate, put the treat on the floor and Brooke comes in. So Brooke goes behind the gate. Brooke has taught Bonnie well,   she is standing in the open door waiting for a treat to hit the floor, I put it down far from the door and she comes in. I have spent a lot of time training Bonnie as a young pup and am now getting  back into it with her. She is not as independent as Brooke, she is just watching and doing what works to get a treat.
Shelties learn from each other and they often copy behaviors, good and bad. I know that Brooke will not change, she is 9 years old and very set in her ways. When she won't come in with the good weather I can just close the door and leave her out a lone for a bit. I can't do that in the winter. Thankfully, her son Walter does not have this independent streak.
I don't think I could take another one trying to rule the roost. He has a very good recall and has had several obedience classes. His come is awesome. Maybe he can teach his mom to be a little more obedient.I know she would just snarl at him and tell him to mind his business and he would respect that. When you live with a pack of dogs they do develop their own pecking order. Max, my 13 year old just has to lift a lip and no one bothers him. They all respect him, the next is Rosie, she knows she is special and she is top dog. She never lets you forget it. 
I guess I need to get this day going, there are 8 inches of snow waiting for me. I am not thrilled, I would much rather brush dogs. 
All for now, wishing you all a happy day.
                                                                  

Brooke  at one year!

MY SPOILED SENIORS

I will try this post one more time, there must be some problem with blogger as I typed it yesterday and lost it, I retyped it and posted it and then it disappeared again, after it showed in the blog. Not sure I can remember all that I wrote but I did talk about my seniors and how I have spoiled them.
Before I get into that I have to tell you how funny Bling was this  morning. We were downstairs and I was making their breakfast.  I have a gate between the kennel room where I make the food, because if I did not the seniors would be in there all over me.
So since they have learned to open the gate I use a bungee to keep it closed.  The young ones are in their crates so not a problem. I looked over at the gate and there is Bling, her front feet on the bungee and it is sliding down the gate and she is sliding with it. She did it again, she finds the funniest things to do,  she can really entertain herself. 
Now back to my spoiled seniors. After they have their breakfast they go out to potty and then come back in and up into the kitchen while I have my breakfast. I usually have oatmeal with a banana, but I split the banana with them. They each get a chunk of it and they love it. I put aside some oatmeal to cool for them after I eat. After my breakfast they get really excited and start barking. I split up the extra oatmeal between all of them, they each get a small plate and are pretty good about not stealing each others. They eat their breakfast and dinner in their own dish and they respect each others dish, they do not try to steal food. Although Rosie will  stand next to Max while he is still eating and when he is done she licks his dish hoping for a crumb. 
They have been getting their oatmeal for awhile now and once the young ones are good at not stealing from each others dish I don't know if I can keep up this routine. That would be a lot of oatmeal to make each morning. Time will tell on that. Once the dogs have a routine it is really hard to change it. They are very routine oriented. When it gets to be about 4 pm they know it is time for dinner and they don't hesitate to let me know.
I understand routine, as I am a very routine person too. I would really miss my coffee hour in the morning, with my shelties, it gets my day off to a good start. 
More snow coming and I am so ready for spring, I would be very happy if I did not have to run my snow blower again this year. 
The dogs are ready for spring too, at minus two this morning they did not want to go out and it did feel so cold. 
Hopefully this does post this time, I don' think I can rewrite again, the rewrites never come out the same.
                                                               

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