Home Alone

In previous posts I have told you how we had some 'issues' when leaving Tjido alone. First he would bark at us when we entered the toilet (and closed the door), or if someone left the house (me, Joost or who ever was visiting) and leaving him alone was unthinkable.

For the first two problems: well he got over the fact we closed the door of the toilet. But he will still wait close by for you to come out. When people left we gave him treats and praised him so he's now happy with people leaving the house, although treats are still in the picture.

BUT HOME ALONE! That was tragic.. for us.

We tried crate training, but didn't really work (today I know why..)
So when we finally decided to really make a schedule and get over our own anxieties, and we did the following:
(how we came to this method, I will explain below)

• Take Tjido for a nice walk so he can relieve himself, play & get tired.
• Back home prepare a Kong or a chewy thing.
• Turn on a recorder or a camera (we later installed the webcam to record)
• Leave the house for 10min. Come back without a big fuss. 

We repeated this 2 to 3 times a day. First few try-outs we gave him dry meat. When we came back he was still chewing, so it was fine. 

We then went to 15min, and had a small peeing accident, but no barking. We freaked out a bit, but decided to continue training and started using the Kong (as well as getting the video recording app on the computer). From 15 we went to 25 the next day. 

When we got to 30min we decided to keep this a few days instead of continuing increasing. We realized that he wasn't barking and he actually fell asleep. Again, after a few days we increased yet again to 40min- 1 hour and latest to 1 hour 15min. Second try on this ultimate record, he peed in the house again. But we now had footage! He looked quite relaxed playing with his toys, lying down and then he just had to pee. So yeah, his bladder is not that controlled apparently.

TIPS:

- Take a breath, make a schedule and take the big step! 

- Try and get a recorder, camera or whatever, this helps allot to assess your dog's behavior when you are gone and can help you relax as you can see when things go well (or bad..). 

- Remove the Kong from your dog when you get back, so he keeps longing for it and understands that it is a great thing that he gets when you leave/ are away.

- Read how to stuff a Kong properly; there are many recipes on the internet, and some as simple as peanut butter + kibble pushed hard and peanut butter to close it off.   

My biggest tip would be to get over your own anxieties. I read the very helpful book of Patricia McConnell I'll be home soon Her website. This helped me to understand that ours wasn't a lost case of separation anxiety, but just a very sensible dog that has to learn slowly how to be alone. It was through this book I realized why crate training didn't work either: Tjido likes his crate but not when closed, because when we closed it, we would leave the room. Now we know we should have added the kong and build it up from there.

I know that every dog is different, but that's why you should get as much information as possible. Also like Veronica pointed out, there are always facebook groups and forums or other ways to talk to more experienced people with your specific breed. In this case Icies are known for being cry babies when left alone. Follow your instinct as well, you know your dog best!

I am happy to report that Tjido does not bark when left alone, he has no signs of anxiety and we will let you know when we hit the following mile stone!

Puppy Classes!

As promised, I took some pictures at Saturday's puppy lessons :)
We are happy with the one we found. It starts at 10am, its in the city (many are in some field out there- hard for us to get there on a bike...) and of course, positive reinforcement!

On Saturday it was our 4th lesson, and we  have 2 more to go! We are lucky that it's only Tjido, a Jack Russel and a Spanish water dog. So there are enough distractions but not too many! Our teacher is there with her cute dog Roef, a Friese Stabij, and he keeps a check on the little ones ;) one bark and they're back in their place haha.

I'm glad we can ask her tons of questions. She gives good tips, thing to read and ideas. The behaviors that the dogs have to learn are for us quite easy (not arrogant intended!) because since day 1 we have been doing our best to systematically train Tjido on obedience 3 times a day. This is because when we decided to get a puppy, we got all nerdy and started researching about everything haha. And well the famous videos of Kikopup are just very motivating!!! (What? You haven't seen them?! GO NOW)

But even though Tjido can do them, being there in a garden with more dogs makes it a new challenge! Yes, the first 2 times he barked and whined to no end in order to play, but now he doesn't bark so much and calms down easier.

In the subject of barking, I am happy to report that barking to other dogs on the street has diminished to acceptable levels: only barking when he hears other barking dogs, but no longer "tunnel-vision".

About the barking in the house before me or my boyfriend leaves: after some tips and ideas, I decided to give him a tasty-tasty chewy thing as I left, and even Joost went out the door. Tjido did-not-care! Yeah! We have decided this week to try it out with a Kong, both of us leaving at the same time and record him (I'm curious what he will do when he finishes the Kong and we're not there...) So thanks for the supporting comments on this issue. We are working on it! It's just hard when you hear millions of different versions of the "right" way to do it.

To end this post and not make it longer, I have subscribed to the "Icelandic Sheepdog Fans" on facebook :) And found an aunt and a cousin of our dog haha. Hope to see your comments on puppy classes and barking! 

First post: Introduction

Hello everyone,

I hope that if you landed in this blog it's because you are interested in knowing more about the Icelandic Sheepdog. There are many websites that give you breeding standards, the history and/or common attributes of these dogs. But what I found that was missing is more "owners" point of views of the dog as a pet in a home.

The inspiration for this blog is many, beginning with these two blogs that I found when we though we would get a Shiba Inu (they are full of useful tips for any type of dog).

Mac the Shiba: very nice blog, amazing pictures and lots of funny stories!
Shibashake: Owners have a Shiba and a Husky, so you can read differences in breeds, lots of training tips and more!

 Later, we were so lucky to find the website of Veronica and her Icie: and this one, is really the blog that made me want to start my own. Animal House

So what will you find in this particular blog?

Of course information about Icelandic Sheepdogs, but mainly:

• Why did we choose this breed?
• How did we find the right pup?
• Puppy-hood
• Training tips
• General tips

And then I will keep adding stuff as Tjido grows up :)
He is right now 11 weeks old.

I hope this can help more people get an idea of what this breed is. For us this is also an adventure! So stay tuned and please let us know any comments or personal experiences! If you have a cool dog blog pass it on :)