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Hi and thank you for letting me join this forum. I have been searching the internet, literature and all means of information concerning care and training of a toy poodle. My husband's 93 year old aunt owned a 2 year old toy poodle and when our aunt became hospitalized we offered to bring her dog to our home rather than him being alone in her house except for a neighbor feeding him. His name is Andre - he is sweet, fun, very interactive and a real pleasure. Our aunt never socialized him, he was not allowed outside and he was generally accustomed to a very strict daily regimen - including naps in his cage. She has owned and cared for many types of dogs over at least a 70 year time period and she of course totally adored her little Andre. She was placed in assisted living after the hospital and because that facility would allow her to have her dog, we continued to learn all we could, started training him simple commands (sit, lie, come, drop) and started socializing him with people and other dogs, anticipating his return to her. (We brought Andre home in the middle of January this year).
As time goes by, it seems less and less likely that our Aunt is going to take her dog back - she loves me bringing him for visits, but seems resistent, in spite of his very good response to training, to let him stay more than an hour.
I would like to add that my husband and I were the proud parents of two cats - one a russian blue who died 6 years ago at age 20 and the other a maine coon who died 5 years ago at age 21. We knew everything there was about our cats and when they passed we decided that we would hold off on having further animals in our life. Needless to say, we love animals but had no former knowledge of caring for a dog.
Here's my most pressing problem with Andre that I am so hoping someone can offer me assistance with - He's super quick to learn and loves everything, most of all riding in the van. However, the minute you put a collar on him or a harness (we bought both) he sits down and refuses to budge. He will happily let me put these on him, but from that minute on he acts like he just received a death notice - he won't make eye contact, he won't move, won't accept any of his favorite treats. I have carried him a block away from the house to teach him to walk back and he sits and stares the other way. When I finally give up and remove the halter, after a short period of rubbing his face and neck on the carpet, he becomes animated and his lovely personality returns. He will walk with me without the harness or leash and is pretty good, but obviously I can't trust that this is safe or that he will absolutely respond to my command after only knowing me for a couple months. If anyone can offer some help for me to "break through" whatever is "blocking" his ability to accept this, I would so appreciate it. I asked his vet, but the advice was to just keep putting it on before taking him out for anything - needless to say, it hasn't helped yet. Thank you all so much for allowing this rather lengthy request.
As time goes by, it seems less and less likely that our Aunt is going to take her dog back - she loves me bringing him for visits, but seems resistent, in spite of his very good response to training, to let him stay more than an hour.
I would like to add that my husband and I were the proud parents of two cats - one a russian blue who died 6 years ago at age 20 and the other a maine coon who died 5 years ago at age 21. We knew everything there was about our cats and when they passed we decided that we would hold off on having further animals in our life. Needless to say, we love animals but had no former knowledge of caring for a dog.
Here's my most pressing problem with Andre that I am so hoping someone can offer me assistance with - He's super quick to learn and loves everything, most of all riding in the van. However, the minute you put a collar on him or a harness (we bought both) he sits down and refuses to budge. He will happily let me put these on him, but from that minute on he acts like he just received a death notice - he won't make eye contact, he won't move, won't accept any of his favorite treats. I have carried him a block away from the house to teach him to walk back and he sits and stares the other way. When I finally give up and remove the halter, after a short period of rubbing his face and neck on the carpet, he becomes animated and his lovely personality returns. He will walk with me without the harness or leash and is pretty good, but obviously I can't trust that this is safe or that he will absolutely respond to my command after only knowing me for a couple months. If anyone can offer some help for me to "break through" whatever is "blocking" his ability to accept this, I would so appreciate it. I asked his vet, but the advice was to just keep putting it on before taking him out for anything - needless to say, it hasn't helped yet. Thank you all so much for allowing this rather lengthy request.
