Honey’s Owner’s Manual

We keep her food and water bowls filled and she eats principally Nutro Max Premium. Nutro is a rice-based food that features lamb and poultry which is best for her coat and skin condition. She gets her vitamins in the morning. She currently gets two multiplex vitamins each morning and one heartworm pill each month. She is not allowed to eat or beg for people food or snacks. On special occasions, we will mix sardines, tuna, bacon grease or cooked eggs into her food bowl. Sometimes we microwave beef neck parts, wait for them to cool and then give them to her outside. It keeps her busy for about an hour. We make a big effort to only give her human treats (which we keep to a minimum) in her food bowl.

We currently take her out at the following times: (1) in the morning at approximately 7:00 AM; (2) approximately 3 or 4 PM; and, (3) approximately 10 PM. We leave her outside in California whenever we are expecting to be away for more than 2 hours. She goes stir crazy if inside longer alone and will sometimes chew up the papers for you in your garbage cans. If you need her to take care of things you need to go with her and watch her, using the Quickie and Hurry-Up commands.

Treat Balancing

On of our favorite tricks is getting her to balance treats on her nose.  The best are milkbones.  To tell her to sit and stay.  The place a treat on her nose length-wise centered just inside the leather of her nose with the end hanging over a bit.  Her head should be about 5 degrees tipped nose up.  If not, use your hand to adjust.  Tell her to stay.  Whey you want her to throw it up and catch, say OK! and snap your fingers.  If she eats it too early (before the command), do not praise her.  When she does it on command and especially when she catches it, praise her.  Chasing sticks outside, chewing bones, and playing tug of war are some of her favorite past-times.  Her absolute favorite game, at this point, is playing with a Frisbee.

Playing Frisbee

She is starting to get quite good at Frisbee. First, you make her sit along side you so you aren’t throwing it over her head. If you say “stay” she should not run after the Frisbee when you throw it. As you throw it, you release her by saying OK, Go Get It! She will run after it. It takes time for her to learn each individual throwing patterns and the day’s wind, but she gets pretty accurate for good throws fairly quickly. She should bring it right to you. If you point at the ground in front of you (as in a come) she will sit. Then you say Drop It! She should let go. Then tell her to sit over there and point where you want her. She should wait there for the next throw. Repeat over and over.

She also plays Frisbee off the deck. She brings you to the edge of the deck. You say drop it. For some reason she lets go very slowly (she savors hanging on to it). You throw it off the deck into the yard below and she chases it and brings it back. She loves to jump into trees and bushes to get it, if its 6 feet or lower. Try not to throw it into the road, otherwise she will go around through the gate and get it. The concern is that with her intensity she may not see cars coming. When in the house, she is always trying to lure you to take her out and play Frisbee. If you just say “Frisbee” you will see her jump into an alert pose and then usually she’ll start searching for it.

All commands can be emphasized with a clap.  The proper procedure is to say, “Honey … <command>!”  If she doesn’t do it by the second time with a clap, she should be made aware of the fact t hat you are disappointed in her.  Sometimes while trying to get her to come, she appears she is afraid of being punished (as if that really happens) and will resist.  If you squat and point at the ground calling her in a friendly voice she generally will come directly.

Honey is not allowed to jump up on people or bite people. She is allowed on three pieces of furniture. The den couch and the two beds. She must “ask for permission” by placing her chin on it and looking at you. If you decide to give her permission, say OK! We work hard trying to keep her from chewing things that are not hers. She will sometimes try to get de facto permission to chew something that is not hers by gradually working into it in front of strangers. An occasional no will put her back on track. We have extra chewers in the pantry closet. We give her a chewer once or twice a week She will start chewing on new people to see if they like it, so it’s important that guests do not permit it.

She loves to play tug-of-war with her pull toy and will even growl at you to get interested. She still doesn’t speak on command but Nancy used to growl at her when she played when she was 7 weeks old and thinks this is how you get someone interested. She loves to cuddle with you when you get down on the ground, but she is not allowed to chew. Apparently, puppies jump up to bring their head to your level, so coming down to their level helps them “relate.”

Her biggest temptations are: (1) getting into the garbage in the kitchen or outside; and, (2) finding paper, tissues and etc. to chew and/or to eat. We are trying to firmly tell her no and give her substitutes (her toys).

We attempt to praise her after successfully obeying each command. The biggest challenge is when admonishing or scolding her and she listens to make sure that she doesn’t feel as if she is being punished for obeying the subsequent commands being used to gain control. Now that she is getting older, if she does something wrong we scold her and say how disappointed we are and etc., which serves as sufficient punishment.

Her biggest pluses are that she is very affectionate, tries constantly to please, is very intelligent and is exceptionally beautiful. We pet and hug her all the time so she knows she is loved and she seems to return it.

Command Vocabulary & Hand Signals

All commands are usually given by saying Honey’s name first, followed by the command. It is usually best to give the commands in conjunction with the proper hand signals. Honey is capable of executing almost all commands by either voice or hand commands. She should be rewarded if she does comply and sternly scolded [or, occasionally, lightly spanked if she doesn’t comply]. Rewarding usually involves rubbing her ears, scratching her neck or patting her chest. If you are using a string of commands, release her with an OK! before praising her.

Here .pdf version of the user’s manual:  Honey_Manual