guess what mango did again!

But I didn't do it, mom!

This time, we were at Big Boy's. Once again, he was being too still and quiet for it to be true. Now, two or three months after the first time he did it, he's done it again!

I'm not sure what exactly is the cause of this behavior. Is it because he's a lab? Or because of some destructive behavior I have taught him? Boredom? Because he's not fixed and he's young?

Whatever the cause, I'm truly at a loss. They have never mentioned chewing being a specific "bad behavior" at any puppy classes I've been to, so they obviously aren't too worried about it. It's probably a fairly normal behavior that isn't too difficult to fix.

However, he is destroying alot of my property. Just this past week, it seems as if he's getting worse. He's chewed up my favorite bra, several pairs of underwear, two stuffed animals, a fuzzy pen, and somehow he got into my dog's rope toys and destroyed all three of them (as in, ripped them in half and spread the innards).

In any case, if you find your puppy taking something that isn't theirs, here is the best approach;
-Take the item away calmly.
-Don't say anything to the puppy in the process. This is giving them attention - you mind as well be handing them a piece of food.
-Scold yourself for having something puppy-acessable in the first place. If it isn't able to be reached, it wouldn't have been destroyed in the first place.

more nostalgia!

I was looking through my things, clearing out my phone memory, and I stumbled upon some old videos I had of Mango doing the CUTEST things as a puppy!


Mango, roughly three months old, playing with his toys! Believe it or not, he's still that rough, even with how big he is today.

Actually, here is a photo of him by that same chair. I just took this photo. It is AMAZING how much he has grown in just a few months!




Mango chasing his tail, about four months old. Again, he STILL does this! Although, not quite as much as he used to, because now his body is too long for him to be able to reach his tail.

mango's bath

Earlier this week, Mango went for a bath at the local dog wash. He's had baths in the tub before, but I would always let him outside to dry. Seeing as its getting colder outside, I don't really feel comfortable letting him outside when he's wet. The dog was has a doggy drier (basically just a big hose that blows air), so I decided to go here.

Although Mango loves water (he always loves getting in the shower with me and playing in his pool outside) he didn't really like this one. The hose with the water was designed similarly to an industrial hose at a restaurant, and I think the water pressure was a little too high for him. He doesn't normally like baths at home either, though, so its not really a surprise.

chasing the cat and other behaviors

I have noticed a number of behavior issues I have noticed with Mango I thought would have gone away with age but have not so far. The first, and perhaps worst, is his obsession with the cats in our home. We have three, and all are very social. Ever since Mango was little, we always kept gates up so that the cats could have a place to be where he isn't. We have started to take the gates down now that hes older, but we still need to keep at least one up because he continues to misbehave around the cats. Their food and their litter box are in opposite directions in our house because of the layout, so they have to intersect the area where he is in order to get to either.

Whenever he sees a cat, he drops whatever he is doing to go and chase down the cat. He used to play really rough, but he has learned to be gentle (somewhat). Instead of biting he nudges with his nose, but Mango is by no means gentle. Kitties are similar to squirrels and other outside animals, which he needs to learn to avoid in order to be successful. This is why I'm so concerned.

He also still has a problem with walking on a loose leash! He's close, but still doesn't quite get it.

The other major behavior problem is STILL house training. He understands that he needs to go outside, but sometimes cant hold it! And this is for both peeing and pooping. Unless he gets taken out every hour or so, he still has accidents. Leader Dogs recommends I just fulfill this, but its not working at all. Im not sure what to do.

Wal-Mart

Earlier in the week, Mango and I took a trip to the local Wal-Mart to get some groceries, and it went fairly well. We got to work on him interacting with other people and pulling. He still has a definite problem with pulling to get to see people, and just being fast-paced in general.

This trip went fairly normal in these regards, but I met a lady after I went through the check-out that approached me about Mango. She asked me the usual questions; what kind of dog is he, what is he being trained for, how old, ect. But then she asked me a few somewhat unusual questions.

She told me about her Sister, who has a problem with having frequent seizures. She told me that she had done some research, and heard about helper dogs who could sense when their owners were at risk of having one. She asked me for more information. Although I couldn't provide much, I explained to her briefly the difference between a Leader Dog and a dog with which she was describing.

"A Leader Dog is specifically trained to guide blind and visually impaired people. The act as "eyes", so that their owner can carry out day-to-day activities such as shopping, going to school and even something as simple as going for a walk. The type of dog that you are describing is a PAWS Dog, who do help people with frequent seizures and other illnesses such as severe asthma and whatnot."

I referred her to Paws With A Cause. If you are interested in learning more, follow the link.

Also, do not confuse with Paws for a Cause, the one-mile long dog walk benefit to cancer research.

staying at pattie's (2)

I've been back from Pattie's for a few days now, but I didn't cover hardly anything else besides the pool in my last post!

When the dogs weren't playing in the pool, they were playing inside of the house. Their house is bigger than mine by a long shot, but no house is big enough for 700lbs worth of dog to run through! Being young, Mango and Ginger would run around, knock things over, and in general roughhouse. The biggest thing to note for Mango, though, is how much I saw he is able to make decisions. Mango, being a Leader Dog, is not allowed up on any type of furniture. The other four, however, were all allowed up on whatever they want. So when Ginger and Mango would play,Ginger would jump up on the couch -- but Mango, no matter how excited, wouldn't!

This doesn't have much to do with Mango, but it is worth mentioning anyways. The two little dogs, Jack and Chloe, each escaped once during the week. The first time, Chloe simply slipped out of her collar. Pattie's house is right behind Cheryl's (the owner of Jack and Chloe, my Leader). The funniest thing happened; Chloe went right back home when she escaped, as did Jack, who slipped under the gate in the pool. It just goes to show you how smart dogs are.

staying at pattie's

This week, my old Girl Scout Leader and Co-Leader's family are going on a vacation, so a friend and I were asked to watch their house, and their dogs, for the week. THIS HAS BEEN SO DIFFICULT! My friend has been gone a good portion of the time that I am home, and there are five dogs to watch. Mango, Ginger, a year-old hyperactive brown lab, Guinness, a HUGE black lab that looks more like a horse than a dog, and Jack and Chloe, two little yapper dogs. First of all....THREE LABS! In a house, most of the time by myself! Plus, they don't have a fenced-in backyard, so whenever I want to take them out to play it is in their in-ground pool, which, thankfully, is fenced-in.


Now, the pool. Mango has played with hoses and kiddie-pools before, sure. But this pool is 9 feet deep in the deep-end, 4-feet deep in the shallow. His first experience with this pool is something I will never forget.

Ginger loves this pool. You throw a ball or any toy in, and she jumps right after it, retrieves it, and comes right back out either through a ladder by the deep end or steps in the shallow. Mango loves playing with Ginger. So, the first time I brought them in to play, Mango was a bit cautious of the pool, but when he saw Ginger jump in and me encourage it, he thought it was fine. He didn't realize it was deep, though! So the poor guy jumps -- or more like falls -- into the pool, and because he doesn't know how to swim, he freaks out and flails around, trying to keep his head above water. I didn't have a bathing suit on at the time, so I had to jump into the pool myself and help the poor guy out.

After that, it was hard getting him to like the water. The next time, a couple days afterwords, ( I wasn't yet staying at their house when this first time happened, I was meeting with my Co-Leader) he was very hesitant about the water. I had my suit on, and my best friend was with me as well, and him and I were in the water, with Ginger and all of the other dogs in the pool with us, coaxing him in. When that didn't work, my friend scooped him up like a baby and just held him in the water. When he seemed fine with that, we allowed him to "swim" (we still had his torso, holding him up).

It was a slow process, but by today he's loving the water. Slowly, with enough coaxing, we got him used to climbing down the ladder and swimming in the shallow end (at first, he didn't know how to swim. He would try and touch the bottom of the pool, not trying to hold his back end up at all. Eventually, he figured out how to stay afloat and actually swim.). Next, he would kind-of jump in, kind-of climb down the steps to retrieve a ball just out of his reach. Then when he got more confident, he'd jump in off the side in both the shallow and the deep end. Now, after progressing from that, whenever I jump in (regardless of whether or not I have a toy) he jumps in too, just for the fun of it.

I have big scratches on me from him jumping in on top of me! At least we helped him conquer his fear; that's what good leader dogs do!