Everyone wants a good dog as a pet. You don’t want Wade Blasingame knocking on your door because of a misbehaving dog. Hoss was a little hellion as a pup. When my wife and I realized we had no idea how to train him, we hired a trainer. Deb, the  dog trainer, came over once every two weeks for about an hour and showed us how to train Hoss. She only had to come over about four or five times before Hoss was behaving like the little angel we now all know and love.

To stop him from jumping on the counters and furniture, we used mousetraps covered with newspaper or dish towels. When he jumped up, the traps sprung, the noise scared him and he jumped down. (The traps never touched him because they were covered.) To stop him from chewing on his leash, we coated it with Tabasco sauce. To stop him from begging for people food, we gave him lemons or jalapenos off our plate. We even taught him to let us know he had to go out by ringing a bell we hung at nose level next to the back door. (That worked really well at our house but when we took him to our friend’s house that did not have a bell, the results were less than desirable.) He is five now and still uses the bell.

I really think consistency and positive reinforcement are the keys to good training. If that doesn’t work, you could always try Dave Sturtevant’s technique.

Well, it sure has been hot in Portland lately. I believe these are called “The Dog Days of Summer.” According to Wikipedia, The phrase Dog Days or “the Dog Days of Summer” refers to the hottest, most sultry days of summer.

The term “Dog Days” was used by the Greeks and ancient Romans, who called these days caniculares dies, “days of the dogs,” after Sirius the “Dog Star”, in Latin Canicula, the brightest star in the heavens besides the sun.

Originally, the Dog Days were the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose just before or at sunrise. Blaming the star for the hot scorching weather, the ancients sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius. (Good thing Hoss and Pepper are black.) We’re not sure if it worked or not.

Macy

Frank

The heat definitely drove us all crazy, but I don’t think sacrificing dogs was on the agenda. Fortunately for Hoss and Pepper, their house has a basement and that’s where they spent a majority of their time last week. For those dogs less fortunate, the air conditioned, dog-friendly Zoom Creates office became a safe refuge from the heat. For a few days last week, we were graced with the presence of Lisa’s dog, Macy, an American Staffordshire Terrier, and Corrina’s boyfriend’s dog, Frank, a sweet older German Shepard. Welcome, Macy and Frank, and be glad you don’t live in ancient Rome.