Introducing myself.. New to this site.. A few issues

I love the long detailed posts. I can almost imagine her here. You put something about feeling like a bad Sheltie mom and nothing can be further from the truth. Emma sounds like a happy spoiled pup. With information that you are gathering you can make her even happier (though I have to warn you a trim sheltie will use those eyes to get more food so steel your will now :lol:)
 
So excited!! (Whew, I need to catch my breath!!) I took Emma on her FIRST walk this morning! I know, I know; I should have been walking her all along; but I truly have never had to walk a dog before; the positive to having wee little dogs I guess! BUT…Emma LOVED it!!!

She went into the harness like a champ and acted like she KNEW what she was doing!! (She is familiar with a leash due to going to the groomers all the time, but the harness was new). Oh did I mention, which I am sure everyone is familiar with; but the hair! I could go into business stuffing pillows with the hair I brush off of her and sweep up in the house.

And off we went!! Granted it was only for about a mile, but it is a start; and BTW I do not recall my car EVER telling me that my neighborhood had so many up and down hill climbs around these parts!!

I did learn on our walk that she has been listening to me! I would stop to cross the street and say stop, sit and she did!! She stayed right by my side even with my efforts to get her to walk ahead of me just a bit; but she got better at it on our way back. We past one person and I noticed he went out into the street to walk past us LOL I slowed down and had Emma get on the other side of me and she did without any problems and she just ignored him.

When we got home, she sat still as I took the harness off and yes I gave her a treat! Ahhh, such love in her eyes! I know of a dog park in my town and I plan to get my daughter and her Sheltie together with us to take the girls to the park soon.

On a side note; I am really out of shape!! I know it may sound like I have been a lazy Sheltie Mom….but in my defense I will say this past year had my attention focused. In short, my Mother became very ill, I lost my job and about the same time my Mom became a frequent flyer in and out of the hospital and rehab; I was pulled every which way. Eventually she moved in with me; Hospice and she past away a few months ago which seems so recent to me. Sole Care giving is physical but not like brisk walking which I will now make ever effort to do each day with Emma (but not on rainy days!!).

I am already worried (by reading a few other posts here) about going on a vacation. Other than past business travels (trapped in a conference room), I have not had a vacation in 20 years this summer (yep, I have counted the years)….and we are taking our first “family” vacation. I am worried about Emma already!!

OK, now I am off to wrangle that rope toy in my mouth, run around the house and play like I love it to try and entice her. I think I will leave the chicken grease off of the rope while I am the sole player of it until Emma shows the interest! LOL Thank all of you!! This site is full of wonderful advice and heart felt fellow animal lovers!!
 
Good job and just like for yourself start with less distance and work up so she does not get sore. Sca has taken to dislike his harness for some reason but also loves to go walking.

Maybe an short evening walk will do wonders for both of you :cool:
 
I am so happy for you and Emma! It wounds like you had a wonderful walk together, and this could be the start of some really wonderful bonding opportunities for the two of you.

Hooray for you!
 
Emma said:
So excited!! (Whew, I need to catch my breath!!) I took Emma on her FIRST walk this morning! I know, I know; I should have been walking her all along; but I truly have never had to walk a dog before; the positive to having wee little dogs I guess! BUT…Emma LOVED it!!!

She went into the harness like a champ and acted like she KNEW what she was doing!! (She is familiar with a leash due to going to the groomers all the time, but the harness was new). Oh did I mention, which I am sure everyone is familiar with; but the hair! I could go into business stuffing pillows with the hair I brush off of her and sweep up in the house.

And off we went!! Granted it was only for about a mile, but it is a start; and BTW I do not recall my car EVER telling me that my neighborhood had so many up and down hill climbs around these parts!!

I did learn on our walk that she has been listening to me! I would stop to cross the street and say stop, sit and she did!! She stayed right by my side even with my efforts to get her to walk ahead of me just a bit; but she got better at it on our way back. We past one person and I noticed he went out into the street to walk past us LOL I slowed down and had Emma get on the other side of me and she did without any problems and she just ignored him.

When we got home, she sat still as I took the harness off and yes I gave her a treat! Ahhh, such love in her eyes! I know of a dog park in my town and I plan to get my daughter and her Sheltie together with us to take the girls to the park soon.

On a side note; I am really out of shape!! I know it may sound like I have been a lazy Sheltie Mom….but in my defense I will say this past year had my attention focused. In short, my Mother became very ill, I lost my job and about the same time my Mom became a frequent flyer in and out of the hospital and rehab; I was pulled every which way. Eventually she moved in with me; Hospice and she past away a few months ago which seems so recent to me. Sole Care giving is physical but not like brisk walking which I will now make ever effort to do each day with Emma (but not on rainy days!!).

I am already worried (by reading a few other posts here) about going on a vacation. Other than past business travels (trapped in a conference room), I have not had a vacation in 20 years this summer (yep, I have counted the years)….and we are taking our first “family” vacation. I am worried about Emma already!!

OK, now I am off to wrangle that rope toy in my mouth, run around the house and play like I love it to try and entice her. I think I will leave the chicken grease off of the rope while I am the sole player of it until Emma shows the interest! LOL Thank all of you!! This site is full of wonderful advice and heart felt fellow animal lovers!!
Click to expand...

This is all fantastic! So glad that you had such a good time. Shelties are a "working" breed. Not by dog show classification, but herding is working. They like the mental and physical challenge. You will bond even more with her as it goes along.

One slight piece of advice, it is definitely good to love your dog and be so happy to interact with her; a dog could only DREAM of a mom or dad with this type of attribute; but you want to make sure that you aren't showing it so much that you put her in control. That is typically what causes the issue.

And I agree with the others, you aren't a lazy sheltie mom. You were just a bit misguided, and obviously had your hands full. It happens to the best of us. Nobody is perfect.

I can understand your "laziness" you speak of, I used to be 6'2'' and 308lbs. In 5.5 months I dropped to 195. Running, lifting weights, and better diet. Made me feel so much better, and my animals have enjoyed more exercise as well.

:)
 
Oh my gosh
already a new Emma!

You will find this is actual FUN... even the hills.. ok, maybe not the hills... hahaahha
I take the ball and chucker with me on some of the walks and let me tell you Toffee forgets to use the bathroom he's that focused on wanting to play with the ball! He couldn't care less about distractions or even wanting to chase trucks or anything. It's a strong bond you're in the process of creating, keep up the good work
 
So sorry to hear about your mom. I lost my mom very suddenly last year as well.

Sounds like your Emma had quite the day. Keep up the good work and the weight will come off. I can't wait until it warms up enough to get my Emma and Liam out walking.
 
Emmasmom said:
So sorry to hear about your mom. I lost my mom very suddenly last year as well.

Sounds like your Emma had quite the day. Keep up the good work and the weight will come off. I can't wait until it warms up enough to get my Emma and Liam out walking.
Click to expand...


Thank you! I miss her terribly. It was just five days before my Mom past that my precious Abbie past; we snuggled into bed and only 3 hours later I woke up and she had crawled to the end of my bed and had past. She had struggled with heart issues for years. I miss her too!

Rope toy adventure: Ok, I latched onto the rope toy (in my mouth), got on the floor and tried to incise Emma. She looked at me like I was nuts and would run away. But I kept it up over a couple of hours on and off and she eventually engaged with me a little. BUT what made her get more engaged is when my little Phoebe, 5-6 pound Chi came running out jumping, nabbing it and running off with it shaking it like she was a 70 pound killer! She would drag it, shake it and run outside! So cute; it is practically bigger than she is. Emma then became more interested and they did a few tuck a wars (with Phoebe hanging on for dear life straight up in the air unwilling to let go!)

When we were done I wasn’t sure who had more slobber on the tug toy, me or the dogs! HAHA Still much work to accomplish with the toys…I plan to make another trip to Pet Smart tomorrow to arm myself with several of the toy suggestions on here; OH and to get a more size appropriate rope toy for Phoebe! I am worn out!! Tee hee
 
Emma said:
Thank you! I miss her terribly. It was just five days before my Mom past that my precious Abbie past; we snuggled into bed and only 3 hours later I woke up and she had crawled to the end of my bed and had past. She had struggled with heart issues for years. I miss her too!

Rope toy adventure: Ok, I latched onto the rope toy (in my mouth), got on the floor and tried to incise Emma. She looked at me like I was nuts and would run away. But I kept it up over a couple of hours on and off and she eventually engaged with me a little. BUT what made her get more engaged is when my little Phoebe, 5-6 pound Chi came running out jumping, nabbing it and running off with it shaking it like she was a 70 pound killer! She would drag it, shake it and run outside! So cute; it is practically bigger than she is. Emma then became more interested and they did a few tuck a wars (with Phoebe hanging on for dear life straight up in the air unwilling to let go!)

When we were done I wasn’t sure who had more slobber on the tug toy, me or the dogs! HAHA Still much work to accomplish with the toys…I plan to make another trip to Pet Smart tomorrow to arm myself with several of the toy suggestions on here; OH and to get a more size appropriate rope toy for Phoebe! I am worn out!! Tee hee
Click to expand...

Very nice! Who cares that we look silly in attempt to get our dogs to want something? :wink2: Glad that at least one of your dogs took a liking. If that doesn't work, you can try some chicken juice, not necessarily fat: just the juice left in the pan after cooking or while cooking. Glad you are having success in your relationship!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top