I'm so proud of my boy and how smart he is! I've been having a lot of #SelectiveMutism days because of my #AutisticBurnout I'm experiencing since my father passed. Because I've been mute for a few days I realized I was having issues communicating with my boy Birger. He knows hand signals for things like sit, down, stay, up, etc, but redirecting him and getting his attention I realized I was depending only on vocal commands such as focus or using his name. This was proving to be a problem so I reached out to my trainer and asked for some advice on the matter. He suggested with the focus command that I add a clap or whistle, something I could do that wasn't verbal related. So because I had some words today we worked on him coming and focusing on me when I whistle. And it's working! He went under the couch today and I didn't know where he was. I whistled and he came right out to me and looked at me! Praise and treats were given of course, im just so proud! It's only been a short training session of this and he gets it! #ServiceDogInTraining#ServiceDogHandler#MothersDay#DogsOfMastodon#MiniDachshund#Dachshund#Autistic#ActuallyAutistic
We almost lost Koda last week due to acute pancreatitis.
He's back home since Sunday and as active as always!
But he's taking a lot of medications, and he has to soon remove his spleen (w/ a golf ball sized tumour), and with his age the surgery is very risky, but needed 😢.
He's turning 15 this September.
I never posted this publically: I take a photo per day with Koda. I have more than 5000 daily Koda photos :D
Our little boy Shortee is in hospital. i would appreciate anyone who is a thinker, feeler or pray-er to send warm wishes + thoughts of noodles, various #dog snacks and proper kidney and pancreas function in his direction. Thank you so much. #love#dachshund#beagle
He would have been 15 yesterday. Didn't quite make it to 14. I wasn't ready even though I knew he was getting up there. He just didn't act like it. My puppy forever. #dachshund#dogs#dogsofmastodon
Poppy knows that we’re having burgers for dinner and she’s so excited for cheese that she’s waiting outside. Cheese time is still like 20 minutes away. #dachshund#dogs#dogsofmastodon
Zoie the #cat and Bucky the #dachshund famously don't get along. Bucky is constantly chasing her around, barking at her, and sniffing her butt. She doesn't like this and will swat at him and then run away to her elevated bed in the closet.
So imagine my surprise when hubby sends me this pic from home! That's right, Zoie and Bucky are sharing the bed. I'm still in shock!
I started training Birger a new trick today! I got a small bell to teach him how to press it, so we can work on that until he has it down. The full plan is to get him talking by pressing buttons. We did our first training with the bell today, and he successfully rang it a few times throughout today! I'm so proud of him, and I already know what his first two buttons will be. One will be "puzzle" the other will be "outside" as those are the two most wanted activities for him. Gonna be training with the bell for a while first though, gotta make sure he really understands the concept, but I think him being able to talk and communicate what he wants to be doing will be a great thing! #ServiceDogInTraining#DogsOfMastodon#DogsWithAJob#Dachshund#MiniDachshund#TalkingDog#DogTraining