Retraining a trama..

borzoimom · 07-29-2007, 08:59 AM

I thought I would post this. A couple weeks ago, I was running the vac in my house. I live in a A frame house, which has a " great room"- ie one big open space in the main of the house. As I went around the corner, I felt a tug on the vac. Dismissed it as the cord caught a piece of furniture kept going. Then another HUGE tug, looked only to see Zubin roped in the cord like a roped calf. With a hare like foot, obviously he stepped on the cord, got caught between toes, panicked and started spinning out of fright. In panic I did a stupid thing and went to him and not the plug in, and as I tried to grab him, he opened his mouth, and bit the cord- at the exact same time the cord pulled from the wall.. ( thank God- Or I would been electrocuted - lesson number one all..)
Zubin got an electrical burn on his mouth. I called the vet right away, but his breathing slowed down etc so after conversations with the vet except for the burn on his mouth where he bit the cord in half, he was fine.
I like a clean house, and with 4 borzois I run the vac daily in the great room. The next day I just got the vac out, not even plugged in, when my normally confident boy PANICKED and charged out of the room into the screen porch and darn near went through the screen which would have dropped him 12 feet to the ground. I tried leaving the vac out- just let him watch it .. to make a long story short- although he was eyeballing it, he was still obviously worried. I was having a problem here trying all I knew to fix this, but this was so tramatic to him, I was at a loss what to do. I knew if I put him in another room, it would like the fear of the vac into concrete so what on earth to do.
ON another forum a poster suggested something that I thought at first was so crazy it just might work. The poster said that their dog was afraid of balloons, and what they did was make friends " with the balloons" by petting it, saying good balloon, offering treats to the balloon etc. It was so crazy and I was desperate I tried it with the vac.. IT TOTALLY WORKED!!!! Dogs have no concept that something is alive or not- and it totally worked.. Here is the video. Zubin is the bigger white with black. ( pardon my appearance but I had been cutting grass all day.. and I was using cheese-its..)
View My Video ( Zubin is the one on the right- his sister Galina is the other one..)

muggsmom · 07-29-2007, 09:36 AM

Absolutely amazing. Would never have believed it. Everybody needs to know about this! Glad Zubin is OK, hope the burn isn't big or in a nasty spot.

borzoimom · 07-29-2007, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muggsmom

Absolutely amazing. Would never have believed it. Everybody needs to know about this! Glad Zubin is OK, hope the burn isn't big or in a nasty spot.

He has healed but I will admit ( gulp) I could not believe this would work- but as you can see- it did! I suggested this method with a friend that her dog was afraid of being in a car. DARN if it didnt work! Its a total riot!
( poor Zubin as you can see- is just a big baby.. no clue of his size..)

muggsmom · 07-29-2007, 12:48 PM

I wonder if it would work with dogs that are afraid of storms. Get a CD of nature sounds, then make friends with the stereo. My roommate has one dog afraid of the car and another afraid of the vacuum. Can't wait to get home to try it out. What a hoot. LOL

All 4 of your babies are georgous. They must have been adorable as pups.

borzoimom · 07-29-2007, 01:00 PM

I will tell you what worked for us with storms. Greyhoundgirl suggested it. The static sheets you use in your dryer, if you wipe the dog down with it a little, it removes the static from their coat. Hottie is doing much better with storms. I guess he can sense and feel the static and more the worry.. ( then I put on music and uh " act happy"... Thank God I have no neighbors.. lol.. )

GreyhoundGirl · 07-29-2007, 02:40 PM

Sent you a PM Muggsmom

lol great idea. That will make a great story to tell the grandkids. lol Poor Zubin. (where's that broken neck pic when you need it? )

Sophie45 · 07-31-2007, 12:10 AM

I remember when I was housebreaking Sophie, some guy told me that when she went to the bathroom and I didn't catch it, (Obviously!) don't yell at Sophie or reprimand or acknowledge her at all but start yelling and screaming at the spot where she went to the bathroom, slapping my hand angrily next to the soiled area. He said that the dog will project my emotions on the soiled spot with the accident....

I never tried it, so I have absolutely no idea if it works (he swore up and down vehemently to its effectiveness, but I felt too foolish and didn't want to scare my shy pup!) but that kind of reminded me of the same idea-if you are loving and affectionate towards a vacuum, then it's a good thing, and if you are angry at a soiled spot, that's a bad thing. Although maybe the dog might become fearful of that area of the floor...? Anyone heard of that one before? I certainly had not!

borzoimom · 07-31-2007, 05:56 AM

Well unless the dog is repeatedly going in the same spot, I really do not see how that could do anything but as you pointed out- being afraid of that part of the floor/house.
There is a old training joke- "when you first get your puppy, get a thick rolled up newspaper. Tie both ends with a good rubber band, and when the puppy goes to mistake a in the house- hit YOURself on the head- you SHOULD HAVE been watching the puppy..."

07-29-2007, 08:59 AM	#1 (permalink)
borzoimom Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 192 Rep Power: 0	Retraining a trama.. I thought I would post this. A couple weeks ago, I was running the vac in my house. I live in a A frame house, which has a " great room"- ie one big open space in the main of the house. As I went around the corner, I felt a tug on the vac. Dismissed it as the cord caught a piece of furniture kept going. Then another HUGE tug, looked only to see Zubin roped in the cord like a roped calf. With a hare like foot, obviously he stepped on the cord, got caught between toes, panicked and started spinning out of fright. In panic I did a stupid thing and went to him and not the plug in, and as I tried to grab him, he opened his mouth, and bit the cord- at the exact same time the cord pulled from the wall.. ( thank God- Or I would been electrocuted - lesson number one all..) Zubin got an electrical burn on his mouth. I called the vet right away, but his breathing slowed down etc so after conversations with the vet except for the burn on his mouth where he bit the cord in half, he was fine. I like a clean house, and with 4 borzois I run the vac daily in the great room. The next day I just got the vac out, not even plugged in, when my normally confident boy PANICKED and charged out of the room into the screen porch and darn near went through the screen which would have dropped him 12 feet to the ground. I tried leaving the vac out- just let him watch it .. to make a long story short- although he was eyeballing it, he was still obviously worried. I was having a problem here trying all I knew to fix this, but this was so tramatic to him, I was at a loss what to do. I knew if I put him in another room, it would like the fear of the vac into concrete so what on earth to do. ON another forum a poster suggested something that I thought at first was so crazy it just might work. The poster said that their dog was afraid of balloons, and what they did was make friends " with the balloons" by petting it, saying good balloon, offering treats to the balloon etc. It was so crazy and I was desperate I tried it with the vac.. IT TOTALLY WORKED!!!! Dogs have no concept that something is alive or not- and it totally worked.. Here is the video. Zubin is the bigger white with black. ( pardon my appearance but I had been cutting grass all day.. and I was using cheese-its..) View My Video ( Zubin is the one on the right- his sister Galina is the other one..)
borzoimom Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 192 Rep Power: 0	Last edited by borzoimom : 07-29-2007 at 10:15 AM.

07-29-2007, 01:00 PM	#5 (permalink)
borzoimom Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 192 Rep Power: 0	I will tell you what worked for us with storms. Greyhoundgirl suggested it. The static sheets you use in your dryer, if you wipe the dog down with it a little, it removes the static from their coat. Hottie is doing much better with storms. I guess he can sense and feel the static and more the worry.. ( then I put on music and uh " act happy"... Thank God I have no neighbors.. lol.. )
borzoimom Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 192 Rep Power: 0

07-31-2007, 05:56 AM	#8 (permalink)
borzoimom Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 192 Rep Power: 0	Well unless the dog is repeatedly going in the same spot, I really do not see how that could do anything but as you pointed out- being afraid of that part of the floor/house. There is a old training joke- "when you first get your puppy, get a thick rolled up newspaper. Tie both ends with a good rubber band, and when the puppy goes to mistake a in the house- hit YOURself on the head- you SHOULD HAVE been watching the puppy..."
borzoimom Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 192 Rep Power: 0

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07-29-2007, 09:36 AM	#2 (permalink)
muggsmom Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Ontario Posts: 99 Rep Power: 33	Absolutely amazing. Would never have believed it. Everybody needs to know about this! Glad Zubin is OK, hope the burn isn't big or in a nasty spot.

07-29-2007, 12:48 PM	#4 (permalink)
muggsmom Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Ontario Posts: 99 Rep Power: 33	I wonder if it would work with dogs that are afraid of storms. Get a CD of nature sounds, then make friends with the stereo. My roommate has one dog afraid of the car and another afraid of the vacuum. Can't wait to get home to try it out. What a hoot. LOL All 4 of your babies are georgous. They must have been adorable as pups.

07-29-2007, 02:40 PM	#6 (permalink)
GreyhoundGirl Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Kuujjuaq, QC and Eastern ON Posts: 408 Rep Power: 0	Sent you a PM Muggsmom lol great idea. That will make a great story to tell the grandkids. lol Poor Zubin. (where's that broken neck pic when you need it? )

07-31-2007, 12:10 AM	#7 (permalink)
Sophie45 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 341 Rep Power: 67	I remember when I was housebreaking Sophie, some guy told me that when she went to the bathroom and I didn't catch it, (Obviously!) don't yell at Sophie or reprimand or acknowledge her at all but start yelling and screaming at the spot where she went to the bathroom, slapping my hand angrily next to the soiled area. He said that the dog will project my emotions on the soiled spot with the accident.... I never tried it, so I have absolutely no idea if it works (he swore up and down vehemently to its effectiveness, but I felt too foolish and didn't want to scare my shy pup!) but that kind of reminded me of the same idea-if you are loving and affectionate towards a vacuum, then it's a good thing, and if you are angry at a soiled spot, that's a bad thing. Although maybe the dog might become fearful of that area of the floor...? Anyone heard of that one before? I certainly had not!

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