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The Days of Miss Ellie Marie

Behavior and bringing home a dog from the shelter

I have started watching "The Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic Channel again. There's a new season with new episodes, but Caesar Millan's message continues to be very consistent:

1) Be in charge
2) Walk your dog
3) Don't feel bad for a dog who may have been abused in the past. Dogs don't dwell on it and neither should you.

The dogs are different, but the methods and the positive results are the same. He mentioned that one of the best things you can do for a dog who you just brought home is to give her lots of walks. Quite by chance, this is what I did. Not because I knew that it was the right thing to do, but because I was so worried about housebreaking issues.

Another point that I learned from someplace I have forgotten is to limit the dog's freedom in the house. So, let the dog get used to one room at first, then expand that as the dog acclimates to the home. I borrowed baby gates from my friend and closed off the kitchen, close to the door where we take her out.

From the obedience class held at the shelter, they taught us to NOT indulge in the "my poor little puppy" thinking.

New Food for Ellie

Yesterday I started transitioning Ellie from Natural Balance dog food to Wellness Super5Mix Chicken.

Today, she is so energetic. She wouldn't settle down to go to sleep and almost looked like she wanted to play with a ball.

The bag said it was made tastier and to be careful about not feeding your dog too much so that they don't bolt it down. She is a picky eater and doesn't normally bolt her food. But.... she did. And she picked out the new pieces of food from the older food to eat first. This from the dog who ate so little at the shelter. She finally gained some weight, but not much until about a year after being with us.