Friday, September 25, 2009

Odda "NO"

I am sure that poor Odda thinks that her name is Odda No, she is growing into a big beautiful lug. Chance and I have been helping out with her this week, checking to make sure she is safe, making sure she has water and that her kennel is clean. We let her out of her kennel to run willy nilly throughout her yard. She is so happy to see me, and even happier to see Chance. Chance looks for Hooch ( he is at his sisters) usually between the two of them Odda is distracted enough to leave Chance alone. Not this week..
Don't let this innocent look fool you.

She irritates him by putting her paw on his back..oh he hates that..he growls at her..Chance never growls. If she insists on being in his space and pawing at him..he shows his teeth and snarls..totally uncharacteristic for Chance. Yesterday he hid under a lawn chair for awhile..he is not a fighter..Odda pushes his buttons. When she finally forced him out of his hiding spot, she insisted on walking underneath him..It was crazy!! Chance thought so too..some more growling ensued and she finally plopped on the ground belly up in submission..two minutes later she was back putting her paw on his back.

She is now larger than Chance.

If Chance isn't the object of her affection..then I am. She is a mouther, she likes your hands, arms and legs. I am insistent that she sit, and that hands are for petting and scratching..I have found her Achilles heel..if I scratch her back near the base of her tail she calms down. She is funny, she can sit and wag her tail at the same time.

Here she comes again!

She is the largest most muscular pup that I have ever dealt with. I am thankful that she likes me, she just needs to learn more manners. She is slowly learning. Yesterday when she tried to scoot between my legs, I got her in a head lock between my knees..she looked so surprised..and didn't try to scoot between my legs again. By winter she has to be totally broke of that habit..or someone will be spending time in the snowbank.

Odda in her kennel, note the round patio brick, it covers a hole that she started to dig to enable her escape. Perhaps she was running away to China.

Training a pup takes lots of patience and time, it doesn't just happen overnight. Chance sometimes still forgets and jumps up on people, he knows better, but sometimes he just gets so excited. If everyone would just say "No" firmly and turn away..instead they reach over and pet him on the top of the head..that is what he wants them to do..it is his reward for jumping up. I am a firm believer in no reward for jumping on anyone.

Odda and some of her toys. She is just six months old now.

I have written about Odda before, you can visit her sister, Livin' It Up Country or her Mom, West Side of Straight. Both Minnesota bloggers, who just happen to be neighbors of mine:)

14 comments:

  1. Oh, she is just gorgeous! But quite a handful... I could never deal with a pup. Hence my adopting only adult dogs.

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  2. She has handful written all over that innocent face! Cute story.
    Sunny :)

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  3. I went back and looked at her earlier pictures. She's a beautiful dog. Is this breed especially smart? I went to see what breed she is because she looks pretty smart to me, for a three-year-old, that is... (in dog years).

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  4. You can tell that Odda is a lot of spunk to train. She looks very large for six months. She looks like she might push your buttons too.

    Have a fab weekend.....God bless!!!

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  5. Wow she's gotten so big! I agree that puppies need to learn their manners. (Remind me I said that in another few months when I'm tearing my hair out!) Chance is gorgeous as usual!

    The Duchess

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  6. She is a gorgeous dog. Poor Chance - Odda is so happy to be let out of her kennel it takes a while for her energy to drain and it looks like Chance is her plaything.
    It sure takes a lot of patience to get through those first couple of years when dogs go through their child and adolescent stages. Most dogs settle down after 2 years but my 7 year old Lab still acts like a puppy too. 100 pounds of excited behavior is hard to deal with all the time.
    The photos are sweet.

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  7. They are both beautiful dogs. That's a good training tip about jumping up....never reward bad behavior. We are working on Skipper, he's a smart dog but he's still a pup and likes to push us a little. A few more months and I think he'll settle down and be a wonderful pet.

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  8. This reminds me of when my kids were toddlers - I was worried that they thought their names were "NO"..... Odda, what a sweetie. We all know the puppy stage won't last forever - you will soon be into the "teen" years! I'll see you tomorrow "Odda No".

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  9. Odda reminds me of Shelley's dog (Scout in MI). Looks like Odda gave you and Chance a real work out. Thankfully, Harriet came to us as a non-jumper (of course, even if she jumped it would only be ankle high!)

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  10. Thanks for your comments! Odda is a Bernese Mountain Dog, she is going to be REALLY large..she might be able to pull a small cart. They are usually cart dogs or cattle watch dogs. She is smart, it has been interesting to watch her grow and develop.. I still enjoy her even if she is a pain in the butt sometimes:)

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  11. That top photo is wonderful. Odda appears to be a good natured dog. They love having caretakers when the owners are away.

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  12. Odda may need work on manners but she IS cute. Love the first photo.

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  13. Thank you so much Connie and Chance! We're just as glad to be home as Odda is for us to be home. And back to working with her!!!!!!!!! Classes on Saturday morning for her and me.

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Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comments! If you have a question I will try to answer it here. I no longer accept anonymous comments. All comments will be approved before posting...due to spammers...may the fleas of a thousand camels infest every hair on his body. Connie