So you think you want a boxer dog PT 2

I also thought I should take this time to update you all on Dexter's anxiety.

You might Remember Dexter...if not its because he's gotten big.

I can't help but scream awwwww when I see this picture. Here he was just 15 lbs :(

Here he is now weighing 80 lbs.....yes 80 lbs!!

His anxiety worsened and we weren't sure why so instead we started leaving him out of the crate but really puppy proofed the living room and kitchen. It was RARE but he did get into things usually due to our own fault. However he's almost 2 1/2 and he's completely changed.

He used to be right at the door as soon as I opened it (even if I had been gone for 6 hours). Now I can leave for an hour or 6 and when I come home hes not right at the door hes sleepily walking into the kitchen....He was SLEEPING!! hallelujah!!

I think our anxiety training helped but I think he's also just matured a little bit. Don't let these photos fool you he still runs around and loves to play but I'm no longer worried about his anxiety when I leave him alone. there also has been NO drooling :) 

He still follows me around when he knows I'm leaving (this picture is evidence from just a few days ago). He stalks me, but I don't mind.

So if you're still on fence about getting a boxer, just know they take time, patience, love, and a LOT of food. I wouldn't trade anything for the world. He's still my baby.

So you think you want a boxer pup?

Today is a two-fer!...or is it two-for....either way, you get TWO posts today!

Brandon and I (as most of you know) have gotten ourselves a boxer pup back in October, shortly after our wedding. After having the puppy for just a few short days we panicked and took him back. Thankfully, is original owner let us come back less than 24hrs later to pick him up again. :)
Going back there was the BEST decision for us!

I'll tell you, that at this moment Dexter (our pup) is laying down all cute and snuggly on my bed....this is not normal. He's only acting this way because he ran a muck from 11am until about 5 this afternoon.

I decided to maybe provide some personal reflections and opinions to other people out there looking to possibly get themselves a boxer pup or dog.


They say boxers are like three year old children that never grow up. VERY true! Dexter is super playful! He has his sleepy times but for the most part he is an attention seeker.

Let's give you some history!
Boxers were bread from a wild dog in Germany and a mastiff. They were originally bred to hunt wild animals. Their jaws helped them hold onto the game until their owner reached them.

Today's boxers are much more playful and friendly. They make great companion dogs, and are very protective over their family. I cannot agree enough with this when it comes to Dexter. If Brandon so much as looks at me funny, or talks to me in a tone (jokingly) that Dexter does not  like, and especially if he pretends to hit me or even TAP me DEXTER GOES NUTS! He is CRAZY protective over me. If I pretend to hit Brandon Dexter actually jumps in to help ME!  I'm sure Brandon doesn't find it as endearing as I do but it makes my heart melt to know he cares that much about me.

Boxers love to have something to work for or have a task to do, so obedience training is a GREAT idea! Dexter started at about 3 months and was the star of his class! He picked up all the tricks very easily and loves doing them to this day.

Separation anxiety...if you get this GET A TRAINER, read up on it. Start leaving your puppy alone (crated preferably) in small increments. Dexter picked up separation anxiety at about 6 months out of nowhere. It IS possible to overcome if you nip it in the bud early! If you need any helpful tips or advice, I'm not a professional but with the help of one we defeated our puppies poor anxiety problems. Just comment and I will get back to you!

Lastly....get a harness that hooks in the front! Walking a strong boxer can be very difficult. Practice heel (usually taught at obedience classes or puppy training), or try other techniques to train him to walk beside you not lead you. The harness really helped us. I can actually walk him by myself!

Getting any kind of puppy is a big decision. In our family it's just Brandon and I. I think having less people in the family makes having a puppy (particularly a boxer puppy) a LOT like having a kid. They need constant attention, affection, and discipline. I think having more people in a family might make having a puppy easier but its not impossible for a couple. You just have to be ready to sacrifice a little and be PATIENT.

It's worth it! <3

positive results from dexters training!

So It has been one week and one day since we changed the greetings and goings with dexter. We started gradual departures at just 5 minute intervals and had some whining.

Yesterday was the FIRST day we left dexter alone since my vacation for a longer period of time.

We did a couple things differently so its hard to pinpoint exactly what helped or if it was a combination. A few things we did:
-we have a crate in the bedroom for sleep and one in the living for when we leave. we moved his bed into the living room crate and use cozy blankets for his bed time crate. We practiced gradual departures and no dram hellos and goodbyes.

Brandon came home yesterday from work after having dexter in the crate for 5 hours and dexter was LAYING DOWN CALM and absolutely NO drool! Same happened today and when we let him out of his crate he's calm and just stretches.

Before he would drool profusely, be hunched over because he didnt want to lay in his drool, and he was itching to get out of the crate and go crazy.

Needless to say so far it's been a great success! We're still going to keep practicing little departures with him.

Also.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lovely crazy wonderful husband. Thank you to bre, zev, and brandons parents for coming to celebrate!

It's bed time I'm running on E.

Doggy update!

So Brandon and I were about to go get his new shoes and I decided to stay. We had already locked dexter in his crate so I decided to use this as a training opportunity. I stayed outside for 5 minutes and listend to him bark :(. It was SOOOO hard! But I did it!
I went in and he was sitting there uncomfortably so I walked around and took off my purse checked my email and then came back and he was laying in the crate so I let him out and of course he ran around for about 2 minutes and so I did dishes (still ignoring him). Then I realized he wasnt following me so I checked the living room and he was laying on the floor so I praised him and told him what a good boy he was for calming down.

We have been working really hard on the doggy independence. He has not been following us around nearly as much! Ignoring his attention seaking behavior has made him relax alone a bit more than he used to. I was tripping over my feet on him sometimes!

We continue to recognize any and all good behavior to reinforce what a good boy he is. We also have been practicing stay in other rooms with him. I'm going to practice tomorrow with him again.

I'm trying to decide when its best to practice again since it stresses him out I dont want to let him out go through all the motions and put him right back in again. I'm going to have to ask denise about this.

I'm going to take dexter to the doggy barking lot on saturday to let him play with other dogs and just be a dog! Make sure you get your pup socializing so they remember they are a dog. Sometimes spending so much time around me and brandon I think dexter starts to think he's human too haha.

dexter calm after I let him out of his crate and ignored him for a few minutes

independence

Morning everybody!
Denise our "dog whisper" haha or common sense as I call it came over yesterday to sit down with us. I decided to keep a log/blog type entry each day or close to it on our progress.

First let me say that dexter is NOT a bad dog! I know some people may read this and when they hear separation anxiety they think a bad dog or a dog chewing on everything in the house. That is not the case with our dog. But I can tell and feel his anxiety and I want him to keep comfortable and happy while we're gone.

Does your dog have prewarning signs too of separation anxiety? (Every dog is different and has their own personality, its best to get a professional to help. This is not relevant for every dog)

1. Does your dog follow you everywhere? I mean EVERYWHERE.
2. Does your dog seek attention alot? Nudging, whining, barking, staring.
3. Does your dog drool when you're gone?
4. Does your dog try to break out of their crate?

We think it's adoreable that dexter follows us around and he constantly is looking at you placing his head on you and lately he's been finding ways to try and get you to pet him when hes on the upper part of the couch looking out the window. This is ATTENTION SEAKING behaviour....my dog is an attention hog haha.

So first we are ignorning this behaviour all together. We're not going to make eye contact until he gives up and walks away. A few minutes later we're going to say good boy and praise him. We want dexter to become a little more independent. He's already started to wonder around the house without us but he's still very clingy.

The hardest part of the upcoming weeks is going to be the no more big hellos and goodbyes.
Dogs tend to associate the door with a party. Everytime that door opens or closes its a party!

This means everytime brandon and I come home we have to ignore dexter until he calms down once he calms down we'll set a self timer for 5 mins. After 5 mins we'll pet and praise dexter. This teaches them that when you get home you take care of yourself first. If you praise them right after they calm down they'll learn to trick you by being quiet so you'll let them out of their crate right away. This would be teaching them to be quiet, not calm. You want them to learn calm.

The hardest part of this will be getting guest who come over to ingnore him until he's calm.

Denise is also sending us sit and stay exercises. So this way we can also get him to sit and stay when guests come over.

Lastly we're practicing gradual departures starting tomorrow when his new crate gets here.
We spoke with denise and she says it is not bad to put him in the crate while we're at work. Dogs do not have a sense of time whether its 1 hr or 10. The crate does not cause his anxiety, it us leaving that causes it. So I ordered this awesome heavy duty crate thats coming tomorrow. its going in the living room and will be open all the time when we are there to get him comfortable with it. The other crate will be just for sleeping in the bedroom.

We also got him a smaller thunder shirt that fits perfect and looks SO FRICKEN CUTE! We got him wearing it all the time for now. next week we'll take it on and off every couple of hours so he wont associate it with the crate or us leaving.
It's good to put this on at least an hour before you leave. or if your dog doesnt like thunder and it looks iffy that day put it on him/her ALL day not just when the storm starts.

BRE, since i'm not currently on facebook, I was talking to denise about dogs and fireworks. If you want to share this with gretchen. She said that it is best to ignore your dog when they freak out over fireworks. By giving in babying you're teaching them that its ok to be scared. You want to act calm so that they will learn to mimmock your reactions. They eventually learn...shes not coming to my rescue...she's calm....nothings happenings..everythings ok. Its hard to ignore becuase they're our little babies but it will nip his fear of loud noises in the butt fast!

Rugby thundershirt dexter!

And an oldie but goodie <3

In my life, I love you more.

Do what's right

So, I emailed denise who did puppy classes with us and she's going to come next Sunday to help us work with dexter and his anxiety.  She thinks we,should be able to nip it in the bud, since overall he's a well mannered dog. 

I want to train my dog right and I want him to be happy and comfortable, so this is our next step and I'm excited!

Reach out for help early on!

Dog goneit

Well my puppy has separation anxiety. The first step is admitting!

Now....what to try to fix it.  I'm going to start with diffusing triggers that he associates with me leaving.  I'm going to randomly put my shoes and coat on but sit down to watch tv or have breakfast.  As days go on I'm going to keep mixing it up by picking up my keys and purse and then go do my hair.  

When we get home were going to continue giving little attention at first.

Were going to start practicing putting him in the crate and taking a step back. We'll wait a minute then let him out and praise if he remained calm.  I hope to get to 5 minutes tomorrow.  I just hope he doesn't regress when I have to crate him Sunday for work.  That's my biggest fear.

We're going to keep working on walks and heel to keep establishing alpha position.  I think by also getting him to stay and let me walk up the stairs first will help with alpha position too.

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.  

We will start by saying his anxiety is a 10 just for scale sake and ill keep track of his progress!