The Dogs

I'm spending lots and lots of time thinking about our dogs right now. As of March, Chris and I now have three dogs, which means the dogs outnumber the humans. I've been feeling like the house is somewhat out of control and have instigated some changes. Credit should go to Cesar Milan who wrote an awesome book and has an awesome show. I've learned so much about dogs and am better able to do the right thing with my dogs.

If you've ever watched The Dog Whisperer, you'll know that Cesar preaches three things.

1. Exercise
2. Discipline
3. Affection

He says that most dogs don't get enough exercise or discipline and way too much affection. I know that's how our dogs were. Now we're trying to tip the scales into the correct balance.

The biggest impact on the dogs' behavior has been exercising them to exhaustion. Chris and I haven't been able to give the dogs enough exercise until we started riding bikes with them. Now we ride our bikes between 8 and 10 mph with the dogs running beside us. We find they can run for about 1.5 miles and then they begin to tire out. Luckily it's only a 15 - 20 minute ride, which is easy for us to do each morning.

Now that the dogs have been getting this consistent exercise for the past week, the energy around the house is significantly lower. The dogs are more relaxed which in turn makes me more relaxed. They listen and behave better. Plus they seem really happy! I'm quite pleased with the improvements.

The only thing we're still struggling with is Stewie's desire to steal things while we're out of the house. He likes to grab dish towels, pillows and blankets off the couch and drag them through the dog door. When we come home, we typically find these items on the porch. They're not chewed up, but they're outside. I'm at a loss as to how to make him stop this behavior. If anyone has advice, I'd love it!

In the meantime, we'll keep making sure the dogs have enough exercise so they can be more relaxed when we're not there.