Three things you like about your DOG and one thing you are working to improve

[PWCorgi]

The canine companion to Paige's thread.

Three things you like about your dog and one thing you don't/are working to improve.

1. His sense of humor.
2. How far we've come with our reactivity training. He's pretty much what I consider to be human social now, I can turn him loose in a room of people and not worry about him biting someone.
3. He always tries really really hard in training! Except when working on recall, he says recall is for bitches.

-Not really something I can change, but his energy level. I know we can improve stamina through conditioning to some extent, but he'll never be a marathon dog. At least he makes life easy through the normal Minnesota winter?

Your turn!

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

1. Her toy drive
2. her energy level
3. biddability

Trying to improve dog reactivity. Recently she seems to be regressing a bit since my mom has been taking her out more and I've had less time to take her out and work on it.

 

[Sit Stay]

1) I love her movement and how athletic and graceful she is
2) I love her love of children and small animals
2) I love how eager she is during training but how she can turn it right off in the house if needed

We are working on her dog reactivity. This is literally the one and only thing I'd change about her!

eta:
I feel like doing Dally too lol
1) She is one of the best looking ACDs I've ever seen
2) I love hearing/watching her rocket after a frisbee that's about the hit the ground. She's so powerful!
3) She's hilarious and loves everyone she meets

I wish she had better social skills with other dogs. She will put her face right in Quinn's face and stare at her, not even in a tight-mouthed aggressive way, she just has no boundaries. Quinn definitely initiates some of the scraps they get in, but I feel like they would get along better if Dally had better social skills.

 

[Toller_08]

Dance:

1) She's beyond cute. And funny. She constantly makes me laugh.
2) She's the best snuggler on the couch. She has to stay on the blanket though so she doesn't get the couch too hairy.
3) She's fun. She loves to play, and I love dogs who like to play. She wrestles, fetches, tugs, etc.

The never ending thing that we're always striving to improve is her reactions to new people. She's better than she used to be, but it's still an uphill battle. She needs more confidence. And I don't even want or need her to like people. I just need her to not bark at them.

Ripley:

1) He's pretty happy go lucky and go with the flow.
2) He tries hard.
3) He's very cute when he wants attention.

I'm not really actively working to improve on anything with him. He's a little leash reactive sometimes (under confident and frustrated), but it's not that severe. The one thing I do want to improve is his focus on me still around other dogs. He constantly tries to blow me off when we're playing or working if another dog is around. He's better than he used to be, but we still have a ways to go. I've gotten lazy since winter came, though. We'll work on it more come warmer weather. If it was that much of a daily issue, I'd make a better effort, but it doesn't really get in the way of much.

Keira:

1) I can take her anywhere without a problem (except her breeder's house - then she's a nutcase).
2) She's indifferent to people and dogs that are not family.
3) She's small and compact, which again, makes her easy to take places. And makes her much less annoyingly in-your-face than Ripley is.

To be honest, I am not sure what Keira could improve upon when I'm around. If my mom is handling her, it's a different story, but with me she's pretty well perfectly behaved. I wish she'd stop giving me her best "my mother beats me" face when I do tell her not to do something, but I doubt that will happen. Ripley gives us the same face. Both of them are pretty soft, but not detrimentally so. I guess if I had to choose one thing I'd like to improve, it'd be to make her more trainable. She has so much food drive that it's erratic and totally unfocused (she can't learn because she's so intense about it), she doesn't care enough about simple praise, and she's not toy motivated and doesn't really like to play. When I do manage to get her to work with me though, she's amazing. She picks up on things quickly and is very accurate.

 

[TicTacTug]

1) Her love of tug.
2) Her little quirks... like, she'll only play with other dogs if she's the one who initiates the game, she'll walk away and sit out if the other dog play bows first.
3) Her coat. I love the texture of her wire hair and the colors.

I'm working on teaching her a bit more self control. I love her high energy, I just want her to learn to focus it better.

 

[katielou]

1) How far we have come in just about every aspect of his life. He is finally a happy dog. I know i say this a lot but i had no idea a year or more ago that he could be the dog he is today.
2) His love for just about everything we do. Hiking? Best thing ever. Sleeping on the couch? Amazing! Agility? So much fun.
3) He adoration of my husband. He loves me no doubt but it is a whole other game with my Husband!

We are working on his excitement over other dogs and some of the reactivity that comes with that.

 

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

Jack
1. He's always willing to go along with whatever I'm doing. Long walk? He's up for it. Napping on the couch? He's right there. Going to someone's house? He's content to just chill by my feet.
2. He LOVES other dogs. I honestly haven't found a dog that he hasn't gotten along with.
3. He's fluffy and adorable!

He barks incessently in the backyard. He can see the neighbors front door from our backyard, and the neighbors come and go a bazillion times a day, half the time they're drunk and making huge amounts of noise - I hate them too, but he doesn't need to bark at them. We're working on it, but its slow going.

Missy
1. She'll eat ANYTHING, with gusto.
2. She's pretty lazy around the house - she sleeps the majority of the daytime hours.
3. She's always willing to eat anything that Jack doesn't like - nothing goes to waste around here.

I wish she liked me a little more. She's 100% attached to my mom, and as far as she's concerned, I could go take a flying leap.

 

[sassafras]

Pip:
1. He's a natural orbiter. Recall? Off leash areas? No problem, he doesn't want to be out of sight of us anyway
2. Self-entertaining/not busy in the house.
3. Sweetest boy with those he knows & trusts. Like, you're gonna need some more insulin sweet.

BUT, he is insecure/anxious and so can be shy with strangers and resource guards (primarily from the other pets in the house, only occasionally w/people), which we are always working on.

Maisy:
1. Joie de vivre does not even begin to describe how brightly her soul shines. She just eats up everything life has to offer with so much joy and enthusiasm.
2. AMAZING mushing dog. Absolutely amazing. She blows me away.
3. Loves every person on the planet. Every. One.

BUT, she is a bit socially clueless when it comes to her own species. She is reactive to some dogs (mostly reactive dogs) and sometimes bullies shy dogs.

Squash:
1. Seems to go through life in an admirable state of being insufferably pleased with himself at all times... which I find somewhat inspirational and highly entertaining.
2. Oh god the funniest dog ever but in a harmless, sweet way rather than any kind of serious or malevolent way.
3. He's generally very confident, puppy fear stages notwithstanding. We've tried mushing, obedience, for-fun agility, and so far he'll just take anything on. I have our sights set on Rally-O next.

BUT, he is so busy in the house. Busybusybusy. An inordinate amount of my time is spent either trying to teach him to settle or redirecting him from stuff he shouldn't be doing towards appropriate entertainment. Getting better as he matures, though.

 

[Katem]

Bear -
1) He is down for anything. Group of 5 year olds want him to play with them all day? Sure, he's got that. 60+ guests come over and I need him to just stay quietly out of the way? No problem. 12 hour drive to stay in a new place with new people for a week? He's fine.

2) He loves to play. He could be in a dead sleep but if someone whispers for him to get his ball he is wide awake ready to go.

3) He is my rock.

I would love to be able to improve his lifespan. I need this dog to live forever and just cannot accept that as an impossibility.

Pig -
1) She goes balls to the wall for me. In class some of the other dogs would start getting tired/bored/sick of the treats as we got close to finishing. Not Pig. We can train for a ridiculously long time straight and she will usually still give me everything she's got.

2) She makes me laugh. Every day.

3) Cuddler extraordinaire. She's not velcro, she's a tumor. Sometimes I think she would like to skin me and wear me as pajamas.

She's still very much a puppy, so there's a laundry list of things I still need to work with her on. The top of the list would be building confidence. In certain situations she acts like the king of the world, but put her in an unfamiliar environment and she's a twitchy ball of nerves.

 

[Moth]

Okay...

Watson

1) He is so clever...it is fun to watch him figure things out.
2) He is great at communication. I love reading him and watching him with other dogs.
3) He is a snuggle bunny

He is naughty and busy...makes for an easily bored canine >.<

Menchi

1) She is hilarious. She has us in stitches about once a day at least.
2) She loves us and it is obvious.
3) She does well at working with me.

She is a stubborn little cow at times, but I don't think I would change that it's is so her if that makes sense So I don't even want to change the difficult thing about her

 

[Paige]

1. He's a huge sweetheart. Not a mean bone in his body.
2. He is loyal to his family.
3. He is very willingly to work with you.

What I am working on is just building his general manners. He's already wonderful and with a little work he is going to be amazing.

 

[Zoom]

Sawyer:

-he's up for anything, at any time and I don't ever really have to put him on a leash
-he's one of the best looking Aussies I know (biased what?)
-He's got a hilarious sense of humor

He's got a feud going with the yappy ass fluffy thing on the other side of the fence and the fence itself can't take many more hits from him. It's the other dog that starts it, every time, but with 2 feet of snow in the backyard, I can't move quickly enough to intercept sometimes.

 

[JessLough]

I'm expected to like three things about my dog?

 

[SaraB]

Classic:
-His goofiness, he makes me laugh at least once a day.
-His adoration for me. Nothing boosts your self-esteem like a boy daner in love with you.
-His mad skillz in agility. For a huge dog he sure is fast!
-Working on getting him trial ready. I feel like this will never be accomplished do his anxiety but it is getting better, bit by bit. (bit, not bite )

Zuma:
-What don't I love about Zuma?! She's pretty much the perfect dog in my eyes.
-I love how she goes every where with me every day but if I sneak off to the bathroom for even 1 minute she is always super excited to see me, like I've been gone for a week.
-Her love for training.
-Working on random agility skillz and getting her into more trials.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Three things I like about my dog:

1. His easy going nature. Always willing to do whatever, and try new things. Usually so long as he's with me, he's happy to be doing whatever it is I ask, like going on vacation with us, or just driving up to the bank, or hitting up the dog park.
2. His desire to learn. He's sooo fun and easy to train because he's very motivated (by food, mostly) but he also very much likes to make me happy and any activity we can do together is fun to him.
3. He LOVES being with other dogs - whether he's playing, running, wrestling, or literally just laying around with other dogs in the vicinity. He thoroughly enjoys other canines which is great for our lifestyle, considering I do a lot of pet sitting, visiting other peoples homes with dogs, family members pets, etc, etc.

One thing we need to work on/I'd like to improve:
I wish he was more toy motivated. He just doesn't really care enough to play fetch outside for a while, or catch a frisbee. He has a bit, as he likes when I'm down there getting real excited, playing with him, but it never lasts very long. Basically I wish I could take him outside and play fetch for an hour to wear him out - but he doesn't care enough about ANY toy to do that, LOL.

 

[SarahHound]

Todd

• Love how calm he is.
• He is so friendly, but not pushy about it. He wags in the hope someone will love him, but won't be in their face if they don't.
• He has such beautiful eyes!

He doesn't have anything that needs working on, but one thing I don't like so much is he has issues with his bowels. He's fussy in that he has to find the perfect place to poop, and if he doesn't find it, he will hang onto it until he explodes and it hurts him

Lucy

• She is entertaining, she always seems to have a cheerful expression on her face!
• She is great with the cats and never chases them (which is really good considering everything else small and furry is, in her eyes, edible).
• She is great for taking long walks.

One thing that needs to be improved is her recall, but I don't feel I will ever get there with her. She just has too much instinct in her, and EVERYTHING that moves outdoors needs chasing. Birds included. She almost threw herself off the pier this afternoon after a bird!

Katy

• She is so much fun to play with. She loves balls, which is something I have never had in a dog, and will play with toys until she flops!
• She's a real cuddle bug, she loves nothing more than being cuddled.
• Her recall is pretty good for her age!

She needs work on jumping up, she loves people and dogs so much, but cannot keep her paws on the ground!

 

[BostonBanker]

Meg:

*There is not a kinder dog in the world when it comes to humans. Polite adoration is how a friend put it.
*She tries harder than anyone I know to do whatever you ask.
*While she tends to be a fairly laid-back, serious dog, those moments when she lets go and acts like a goof make my heart smile.

-She has developed more territorial issues as she's gotten older, and is starting to react more to dogs walking by our condo.

Gusto

*He is absolutely fearless, and is always game to try anything you can think of, and often stuff that would never occur to you.
*There isn't a mean bone in his body, with people or dogs. I have yet to find a dog he can't get along with and make play with him.
*He makes me laugh constantly.

-He gets into *everything*. He can be a total pest in the house as a result.

 

[Southpaw]

-her eagerness to work and learn
-she's pretty bombproof in the sense that she's not going to growl/bite over being handled or having resources taken away
-she's just such a freaking sweetheart and clown

One thing were working on improving:
-her anxiety towards people/reactivity towards dogs

All in all though, my dog is awesome.

 

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

Chloe

1. She's so sweet, and loves everyone, but is particularly attached to me, and I love her to death!

2. She's great with other dogs, very easy to take places/travel with, she's really good at adjusting to different situations.

3. She's adorable!

I would change the fact that she is pretty reactive as far as barking at stuff that's out of place or something like a bird, squirrel, cat, or other dog. She's also the fun police and will bark at Violet if she acts up or comes upstairs lol

Violet

1. She's beautiful! I love her coat, especially her big floofy tail. <3

2. She's SO smart. She learns things so quickly, but I wish I was a better trainer.

3. She's surprisingly GREAT with other dogs.

She has no manners. I know it's partially my fault, but no matter how much I try to work with her on NOT jumping up on people, it doesn't work. She cannot keep her feet on the ground. And even when she knows she's not supposed to jump up on people and put her paws on them, she still can't resist shooting up and popping people in the mouth with her nose. x_x She loves people so much, but she HURTS them! I cannot get her to stop.

 

[Finkie_Mom]

Kimma:
1. Her eagerness to work with me - she LOVES training and learning new things, and she's pretty quick to catch on, too, which is great
2. She's funny. Like all of the time. Never a dull moment with her.
3. LOVES other dogs. And she's an awesome demo dog/training assistant, which is helpful.

- I just wish she didn't have so many random fear issues. One day she's afraid of getting in the car, the next she's scared by the heater going on or some other noise that she has heard a billion times before without problem. I don't mind working through the issues with her, but it does get somewhat tiring after a while.

Bubbles:
1. She's a DREAM to live with. She keeps herself busy, but is always up for going for a walk, training, playing, or just relaxing.
2. Loves everyone and every thing. Actually, she just seems to love life in general
3. Decent recall and wants to please

- I would love it if her leash reactivity would just vanish LOL. We've been making tons of progress and she's nowhere near as bad as Kimma used to be, but it's still a work in progress. I also wish she were a bit more confident (especially in the show ring). But that is also a work in progress

Pentti:
1. My cuddlebug (well, everyone's cuddlebug )
2. Pretty darn bomb-proof
3. LOVES working with me

- Sometimes he gets a bit TOO in to being pet and can be a pest about it. He also can be a bit of a brat on leash.