My dog ate my homework...

[Torrilin]

Crates are great. Your dog needs her own space, just like a kid. And just like a little kid, she's gonna think her own room sucks at first. It's amazing how much a 6 month old puppy in a crate sounds like a 2 year old in their own room for the first time. Maybe she needs an old worn out shirt of yours in there, so she doesn't feel as alone. Or maybe put a favorite toy in the crate. A Lab or Lab mix probably would want a chew toy. Once the dog understands the crate is *their* space, they think it's great. My family's dog would hang out in his crate when he wanted to be left alone for naps, or when the kids were trying to play rougher than he wanted.

It is possible (and for some breeds a really good idea) to train your dog to walk on a lead with you on a bike. A greyhound really needs to go fast, and a lot of times bike training them is the only way you can safely let them go all out the way they need. It does take training, and isn't a good idea for every dog. But for a high energy dog, the longer and faster distances are good.

Some dogs btw are nearly incurable beggars. They tend to be *very* food motivated hungry critters. For that kind of dog, any treats outside of mealtime will reinforce the begging. If everyone in the household sticks to "no treats", you can get such a dog to stop begging. If there's even one soft touch, the dog will hit up anyone with food and beg. If you're having a family meal, the dog will hit people up in dominance order, starting with the least dominant person and moving up the food chain. If they strike out on everyone, they go back around.

[Python]

Worst thing I ever lost to a dog was my specs. Our dogs have always slept in their own beds in our bedroom and we'd just got this new GSD rescue (this was about 20 years ago). She thought it was a good idea to munch my specs while we slept. All that was left in the morning were the lenses and the very chewed up frames They were my new specs too and I really liked the frames. Guess what. I couldn't get another pair of frames like them.

We had to give that dog back to the rescue centre because she had other serious issues that we just couldn't seem to overcome, like weeing all over the house, even in front of us and doing the other as well. What was the final straw was our other GSD and this dog took a dislike to each other. It was almost as if our Tara didn't like Sheba's misbehaviour. She got a good home with a farmer who's GSD has passed away through old-age. I heard a few weeks after we returned her to the rescue centre that she was she was enjoying the big outdoors and was a very happy doggie.