Big day yesterday

Sunday was down right beautiful. I took Tucker to the dog park, where he had the chance to run around for a little while. We then went to Chapel Hill to walk the campus of the University of North Carolina for a few hours. His current default photo was taken on the grounds of the university. We came home, took a nap together, and then walked around NC State University's campus. I managed to take a picture of him in front of the Tucker residence hall.

Tonight, I want to take him to the gardens of WRAL TV's studio. I figured it will be almost just over a 3 mile walk (round trip) to where all I want to take him tonight. He & I are both getting our exercise this week.

Now checked "purebreed"

I struggled for a long time in trying to figure out if Tucker was 100% beagle or mostly beagle along with some sort of other hound. After months of looking at all sorts of beagle photos, I have now come to the conclusion that Tucker is 100% beagle.

Being a rescued stray, he obviously doesn't have a pedigree. I don't think he was ever registered either since when he was found, he didn't have a microchip (He does now).

Tucker's first snow

It snowed a little bit in Raleigh yesterday. It was enough to give the ground a little more than a dusting. Tucker loved walked in it & eating some of it. I don't know Tucker's history or where he came from. He might have seen snow before, but I like to think that he hasn't. We managed to work in a couple of walks before the snow all melted. The photo in the snow was taken yesterday.

17 Jan 2007: Still working on barking

I've gotten Tucker to learn "sit" when he's inside the house. The next trick I'm trying out is getting him to "sit" when we're out on walks. Right now, I'm still sticking to this method:

We're walking along our normal path. At one point, I'll stop. I'll then put one hand under his collar, with my fingers pointing to his tail. As I give the command "sit," I'll use my other hand to force Tucker into the sit position. I'll then keep him in the sit position for a slow, silent count to either 20 or 30. If he gets up before the count is complete, I'll force him back into the sit position while I say the command again. The count resets to zero. After a week of doing this, I'll hope that I can get him into the sit position on command without being forced into it.

My hope is that I can get him into the sit position before he gets excited when he sees other dogs cross his path. If he stays in position, he doesn't get too excited and I can definitely control him.

If he doesn't learn to stop barking while on leash when he sees other dogs, I'll have no alternative than to put a anti-bark collar on him.

Training: Day 01

I have been pretty neglectful in my training of Tucker. Part of it is thinking I don't have the time (which isn't true). Another part is thinking that I can never do it. This also isn't true. So, I decided to start by doing small things.

Phase 1 is getting Tucker to sit. I always thought that teaching a dog to sit was a piece of cake. Well, Tucker is either stubborn or thinking that I'm playing. Either way, he isn't responding to my sit command.

So for Day 01, I've decided that it is enough for me to force him in the sit position and get him to hold it for at least 30 seconds. Sometimes I had to hold him in that position, other times I could let go and he would remain in the sit position until I said "ok."

It may take a week, but even if it does: I hope to have 12 to 15 years' of quality time with Tucker. So… time is not of the essence.