Sailing Adventures - Part 1

Tjido is learning to be on boats.
We actually love sailing, but since we don’t have a boat of our own Tjido hasn’t been on one since puppy-hood.
Now Joost brother has bought a pretty cool boat- a Skûtsje, like they call them in Friesland. Since its quite big it’s stable. So first we got him comfortable on the boat and inside.
And now he has been twice on the boat in a “motor” trip, so no sails for now.
We are also teaching him to use his “doggy live vest”.

Training with my new live vest.

He getting slowly used to the boat, he keeps walking laps and comes to cuddle with me or Joost - I guess for a bit of reassurance. He already knows where his water bowl is and when we have to wait for a sluice to open, he relaxes with us.

On our way! 

Our last trip, we went to the north east of Amsterdam with the boat and biked back. Tjido was or in the doggie-ride or running along side of us. It was a great day!!!

Ready for our trip back on bike!

Doggy Ride - A mode of transport

When you live in a country/city where the main type of transportation is the bike, you have to think differently on how to transport your dog.

As you might have seen in previous posts, when Tjido was a puppy he fitted quite well in a basket in front of the bike. But he's too big and heavy for that now!

So we decided to purchase a kart for behind our bike, and went for the dutch Doggy Ride. You can google it and read all its fabulous attributes ;) We started our training at home: without the wheels, the kart was a nice "house" for Tjido. He went in and out without a second thought, and even slept in it.

Then we went outside, on a quiet place where we could start training, but it just didn't go the right way.  Barking, stress, crying etc. Until we got fed up of our failures and decided to ask for help. Our puppy training teacher came to see us and assess the situation.We got a new training program from her and decided to take advantage of a weekend at Joost parents house who have a garden to train. We did about 2-3 training sessions per day.

We decided to keep the front flaps open this time, since I do think he's not a fan of being in closed-up spaces. And this worked like a charm! Maybe in his mind, he feels he can always step out if necessary? Or he feels more part of the group? I don't know, but it is funny how such a small detail can make a big difference. SO here's the training we did:

Step 1: Go in the kart (attached to the bike), close the back flap, wait, open and command free.

Step 2: Go in the kart, close the back flap, walk with the bike and reward with treats. Open, give command free and play a little (to relieve stress).

Step 3: Go in the kart, close the back flap, bike a few meters and reward with treats. Open, give command free and give grans reward with a game of fetch/tug (to relieve stress).

And so on..
We also made a change on the security straps. They are normally found attached to the upper side of the Doggy Ride, but Joost changed them to the ground, so Tjido can lie down and sit as well. With the original setting, he couldn't lie down if we didn't want him to jump out.

We then started training close to our home, and trying to bike to a place where he could run loose, as to make the experience much nicer. Short rides, and increasing slowly. We did have a day we went too far, but then we tried to end it in a good note with a mini-ride. We have now achieved 5 minutes of biking, with Tjido "enjoying" the ride :)

Our next goal will be to bike to the forest - 2.5 km - and then I think we can start with real trips!
It has been a good training of our patience and our strong will ;)

The teenage dog

Ah readers!

Well sadly while writing this post, Tjido is yet again sick.. not as bad as last time but now the symptoms are: not eating and throwing up occasionally. And just to make it a bit worse, he found a chocolate in my bag and ate a piece of that.. so yeah, you know..

But today I want to tell you about our teenage dog.
Yesterday Tjido became 7 months old! And well, already a few weeks ago we started noticing some "teenage" attitudes.. recall was terrible, his reactivity towards other dogs on-leash has very sharp ups and downs and he has found a "girlfriend" in the neighborhood (sterilized)... we will need to have the talk. 

Good Looking at 6 months!

Especially for recall we bought new amazing treats that he had never tried before and started playing the "hide" game, which is easy because we are two people. So we hide, call his name and he runs to look for us. He really likes this game! We have also been using a squeaky toy to get his attention and allot of praise and awesome treats when he come back. It is a work in progress but he's getting better. Although sometimes he comes reliably, but then runs back again full speed to the dog that is trying to leave the park.

We also started a "teenage-course" at the animal shelter close to our home. The first lesson was a complete disaster. Tjido could not stop barking! So we were sent to the other side of the field, got a more personal trainer and then at the end got the "so.. what traumatic experiences did your dog have as a puppy?"... we were tagged as the problem dog and problem owner! So we explained that we did exercise him, that he wasn't aggressive (this they actually tried out) and that he was just.. reactive. Part of the breed blah blah.

It was certainly annoying. The next week we decided to take a new approach and get there very early walk around and let other dogs get to Tjido first instead of us holding the 'tight' leash. This worked fine, and we have now refined our technique, by letting Tjido trot while we bike, for the last few meters. This extra exercise helps allot- although at the end of the lesson he's just digging holes and not paying any attention.

Slowly Starting to Walk/Bike

To tell you the truth, we have not learnt anything at the lesson. Since we are starting really basic, Tjido has a good background from the puppy course  (I think our teacher still gets surprised that the 'barking-dog' does follow commands). For us our biggest challenge is to:

1. Arrive
2. Be in the group- be part of the circle, keeping Tjido's attention on us and minimizing the barking.
3. Leave

"BORING! this dirt is so much fun!"

When we get back home we all collapse haha. Next post will be about Tjido's doggy friend! And hopefully his stomach ache will be gone by then.

Me wants cuddles.. 

Amsterdam Life 1

Hello readers!

Today I would like to describe a bit our lifestyle.
Even though we have a herding dog, we live in the city. Amsterdam, as many know, is a compact city with a high density. Flats are here the norm, and we live on a 2nd floor.

Living in an apartment made us doubt about having a dog. So many people would say "poor dog, you are crazy". And although they are not completely wrong, I have to give my own personal experience. Back in Mexico I had Daschunds in a big garden. They lived outside, since the weather was perfect and my mom hated animals inside the house. I loved my dogs but never took them out to walks, and thorough high school I did not spend much time with them. I am being honest here, because in the journey to get a pup I have realized how I grew up in an "old school" way of treating dogs: Dog are animals, full stop.

Having a dog in an apartment is intensive. But I think it also creates a close bond and you really have to go all-in for your pet. For example, you have to go outside to the street for potty training, and think about traveling a bit to get to the park or forest.

So this is how we have to adapt to city life with a dog.

• Since our home is not that big, Tjido has his own area and we make sure he knows that it is his. Closing it off and walking away is impossible (barking & whining to the max..), but at least there is a sense of boundaries. 

• The balcony serves for some birdwatching and a good breeze.

• Our stairs are a bit steep, so we currently cary Tjido outside. 
• There is a very nice 'island' close to ours house where the dog can be off-leash, since there is only one bridge to get off it. Here we trained recall off leash for the first time.  

• To go to puppy classes, we have to bike there. Tjido has a front seat ;) we put a towel and with a short leash hold his harness loose enough for him to stand and spin but not jump off. 
• To go to the forest we also bike there. Hoping that later we can bike-run there!

• We are lucky to live in a city where dogs are welcome almost anywhere, and although Tjido cannot be still for long, he has been able to relax when we have a drink or lunch at a terrace (even with pigeons flying by!!!) but this is something we will be working on. 
• Public transport: our first try in the metro was a disaster... we haven't tried it again, but maybe we will start with trams - less fuss.