Newbie

[Roxy's Mom]

Hi! My husband and I are new owners of a wonderful little shih tzu. She is a 4 year old rescue dog and we are delighted with her. She is a real sweetie and since we are retired, we have plenty of dog lovin' time!

Her previous owner had spent considerable time training her and we reap the benefits. She is a loving little dog with only couple of behavior issues. I am currently using clicker training to teach her loose leash walking. So far, so good!

We feel very fortunate to have found her and she gives us so much joy!

[Syn]

Welcome Roxy"s Mom....

Most of us here have rescue dogs, and I hope you have as much fun here as I do....oh and I've learned a bit as well.

[Stephanie]

Aww, how lovely that the previous owner did so much with her, my lot couldn't even sit when I got them....they were all pretty untrained and wild. I do clicker training with 2 of my dogs - it is great way of training, the other one, my boxer boy, he doesn't like the noise of the clicker and reacts badly to it ...although he will sit the other side of the dog gate and watch me training with the other dogs and using it.... I have never used the clicker to teach a dog to walk to heel, that's interesting, I am glad it is working well for you. It would be so lovely to see a picture of Roxy - such a pretty name - was it the name she came with or did you change it? Welcome to the forum anyway.

[GoodPup]

Sounds like you found a very special dog - good for you - I'm sure she will enrich your life in many ways. Sounds like she's very lucky to have found you too - being retired and having so much time to spend with her - Lucky girl!

[Roxy's Mom]

Thanks for the warm welcome! Roxy was her name and we like it. Besides, it is easier to keep the name than to teach her to respond to a new name.:

She was rescued from a shelter in the Denver area and was fostered for a couple of weeks before she came to us. We haven't had one potty accident (or on
purpose!), she sits when told to and won't jump up on our laps or our bed until we tell her OK. Amazing!

She wasn't used to walking without pulling and that didn't work for us. I found info online about clicker training and it has helped...unless there is a bunny or a bird or a squirrel to distract her. I use cooked carrots as her reward so she is getting a veggie when she walks next to me. I hope I am not overly optimistic but she has only been a joy so far. We have had her for about 3 weeks so I think any bad behaviors would have shown up by now.