Family Connections

It makes me sad that so many of my fellow pooches don't know where they came from, and never meet up with their relatives. As I approach my eleventh birthday, I like to think about all the relatives I have met since I crossed the (Pacific) pond to the USA.

The first relative I met was my Uncle Charlie Brown. He's a big, brown, handsome guy, and was my Dad's half-brother. Uncle Charlie is about a year older than I am, and he taught me all sorts of things that a young doodle needed to know, like how to play 'chase me.' 

He was a very thoughtful teacher and sometimes let me catch him and wrestle him to the ground

I was reunited with one of my litter mates, Moccasin, shortly after we both arrived in SoCal. It didn't take us very long to become reacquainted. We had a great time wrestling together in my yard.

I was a perfect host and let Moccasin pin me first

Then it was my turn

After we had calmed down, our folks took us for a walk. I loved showing off my Bro' at Powerhouse Park, even though he wouldn't sit still for our picture

Moccasin and I had another reunion a few months later, when I introduced him to Daphne, my first and only true love. 

He tried to make time with her

But she let him know in no uncertain terms that she was already spoken for

I'm proud to say that Daphne and I are still an item. She came to visit me a few weeks ago, and brought her kid sister - my niece Chloe - along for the ride.

My beautiful Daphne

Daphne and me, rekindling our romance

This is Chloe. Can you see the family resemblance?

I'll have more stories about my furry and human family members in future posts.

Wags 'n' slurps,
Quintzy

Sharing

The concept of sharing is alien to many humans. Any doodle - or any doggie, for that matter - who wants to live a happy life with his or her humans MUST teach them to share. This is not an easy concept to teach.

When I was a younger doodle, I met my cousin, Jazz, for the first time. She was a Labrador Retriever, but I didn't hold that against her. After all, I'm part Lab, too.

Because I was so much younger than Jazz, I tired her out. 

In self-defense, Jazz decided to teach me the 'Share the Kong' game. She would give the Kong to a human, who would throw it for us to chase after. Usually, I would get to the Kong first, 'cause I was much younger and faster than my cousin. At first, I would try to get her to chase me for the toy. But Jazz had a better idea. She taught me to lie down in the grass, with the toy between my front legs. Once I was settled, Jazz would walk in a big circle around me, then squat to potty. I would get up to inhale her special scent, allowing Jazz to swoop up the Kong and bring it back to a human for another throw. We used to play 'Share the Kong' whenever I came to visit.

I tried to teach this game to my Momsy and Popsy, but they refused to learn. I think it had something to do with not wanting to squat and potty outside. Never did figure that one out!! However, I have been able to teach my humans the concept of sharing, although I must admit that my success rate is less than 100%.

They're always happy to share visits to the dentist

And they're very good about sharing friends and family with me

They even are happy to share snow!

I've taught them to share toys.

And to share a sofa.

But no matter how hard I try,

They won't share their food with me.

I didn't even get a slice of the chocolate cake that Popsy baked in MY bowls!!

Training Your Humans With Treats

Humans are smart. Take it from one who knows! This makes them quite easy to train - once you figure out what treats to use. Fortunately, most humans are food motivated, and will work for treats that are easily available to the average Doodle. With patience, practice and the appropriate rewards, there are many tricks that you can teach your humans. Here are just a few of the most important behaviors to teach your human family and their friends.

Polite greeting

Posing patiently for a picture

Dancing

Walking calmly side-by-side

Of course, not everybody is equally easy to train. First, you must find the best treat to motivate your humans.

Orange wedges, watermelon cubes and blueberries all are effective training treats.

Throwing your toys for your human to play with is also a good training tool.

If all else fails, there's always CHOCOLATE CAKE!!

Socializing Your Human Companions

One of the very first things any doggie must do after joining a human family is to teach his or her humans good social skills. The most important of these skills is called The Cuddle.

Here is an illustration of a One-on-One Cuddle

This is a Two-on-One Cuddle

I call this variation the One-on-Two Cuddle

I must admit that I enjoy a Three-on-One Cuddle even more than the Two-on-One

Finally, here is the Sequential Group Cuddle, demonstrated by students at The Winston School

Socializing is an acquired skill for humans and must be practiced as often as possible. Humans are sensitive to different situations, and you must insist that your humans practice their socialization skills over and over again, and in as many different environments as possible. If humans are not well socialized, they might yell at other humans or other dogs, shake their fists, or snap and snarl. Definitely NOT acceptable behavior!

In my next post I'll discuss how you can train your humans to work for treats.

Wags 'n' woofs,

Quintzy

Welcome to Quintzy's Qorner

Hi! My name is Quintzy, and I want to welcome you to my little Qorner of the world.

In the more than ten years that I have been living with my Momsy and Popsy, I have travelled with them all over the USA and into Canada. I have dived into lakes, ponds, pools and oceans. I've romped on beaches and in snow drifts; walked beaches, city streets and country roads.

As I approach my eleventh birthday, I've been asked by my fellow doodles to share some of my experiences and thoughts about living with a human family. Being a modest fella, I've been slow to take up the challenge. After all, what could I possibly have to contribute that any other pooches would find useful? But I decided to give it a try.

First, a bit about me.

I was born in Australia at a place called Rutland Manor. My furry mom was named Sharni and my furry dad was Cool Dude. When I was ten weeks old, my Grandma Beverley sent me across the Pacific Ocean to live with my Momsy and my Popsy in California.

Momsy and Popsy had a neat garden fixed up just for me, complete with a red ball that was almost as big as my head.

But I was so tired from the 14-hour flight that all I really wanted to do was sleep.

I recovered quickly, though, and made my first visit to the beach when I was 14 weeks old. It was fun chasing the waves in and out. I got all wet and sandy.

During those first few weeks, I was reunited with my brother, Moccasin, who also was sent to live with a pair of humans in California. Here are Moccasin ('The Moc Man') and me getting caught up with the news. I'm the one on top.

I also got to meet my Uncle Charlie Brown - my furry dad's half-brother. Do you see the resemblance?

Uncle Charlie and I got to play together from time to time. He was very helpful at teaching me some important stuff that only other Doodles know - like how to play 'chase me.' 

But, I never did understand the concept of sharing my toys with my fellow Doodles.

There's lots more to tell about my adventures with Momsy and Popsy and how we travelled all over the US and Canada together. I hope that you will visit Quintzy's Qorner again and share my scamper down Memory Lane.

Wags 'n' woofs,

Quintzy