Sunday, March 22, 2009

Mexican Stew


Yesterday Stewie experienced a haphazard meeting with the neighbor's Chihuahua, whom he figured was showing up just for him...

The Chi was less than thrilled...


Stewie is all terrier, for sure. The poor Chi didn't stand a chance. Stewie is doing a little better with the house breaking, although still seems to have some issues with bladder control. He seems to be getting the idea to go outside a little bit. He's four months old now and it will be two more weeks before typically a dog can really hold its bladder anyway.

He has been doing some food guarding, and in fact growling and snarling over the bowl and he even nailed me and drew blood! So I've started sitting with him every day while he eats, and dropping little pieces of boiled liver into his bowl. Stewie is so food-crazed that he gags himself sometimes. I think it is due to the competition he had as an infant. Anyway, I am giving him more meals now, in an attempt to decrease the value of food a little bit. He loves the liver and is getting a little less defensive about his bowl now. He has learned to "sit", "down", "come" and "dance". The dancing is his favorite trick -- he spins in a clockwise circle. The hungrier he is, the faster he spins. When he smells that liver, he really whips around.

I want to teach him to "roll over", but he's so excitable it's going to be tricky. I have gotten him to go over on one hip when he's in a down, but so far that's it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

He's such a cutie!! The spinning around when excited must be a terrier thing...Sunshine does the same thing! I also wanted to mention that the breeder told me that terriers mature more slowly than other breeds. In Sun's case, she was right. Ask your friend if she agrees. They ARE a handful. Sunshine still chases cars, bicycles, runners, etc. I'm beside myself! What should I do?? You're the best trainer I knqw! Love, Cindy