Not surprising at all. Our french bulldog LOVED hot chips, Cheetos, whatever. Poor smushed-faced little fuck would eat one, sneeze and snarf, his eyes would water - come right back for more and whine in distress when they were gone. FFS
Flaming Cheetos were our jam when going for a drive.
Have you tried carrots yet? Mine go absolutely apeshit over carrots.
Been meaning to - he's a bit small (and teething) so I wouldn't want him to get stupid and choke. Cucumbers in summer - throw in fridge, then throw outside. Our Boxer-Poodle would destroy those. What a fucking mess - strictly an outdoor activity. Looking forward to it
Broccoli for my boy, which is great because I eat stupid amounts of steam-in-bag broccoli.
OH YEAH!!! Gave him a whole carrot, minus the point which I ate, outside. He flipped it, he flipped himself, he growled at it, he tossed it, he tossed himself(so it appeared). TOtally apeshit. Kept taking small pieces. It was time for his dinner so I grabbed it, went in and grated it into his food. Total bowl destruction, ending in overturning the dish and whining.
You either redirect him to a toy, giving him a GOOD BOY thing to do, or remove reinforcements to the behavior by ignoring him. So like stand up and don't look at him, if that isn't working after awhile you might need to leave the room and close yourself in another. Also give him treats (trainers, low-cal) for taking pets well. I had to do a lot of that when I first got Scout, even just sitting by him on the couch got him too excited and mouthy. Heelers are naturally inclined to use their mouths even more so than other breeds and they're always THIS CLOSE to being overexcited. Training raises the excitement threshold over time.OH YEAH!!! Gave him a whole carrot, minus the point which I ate, outside. He flipped it, he flipped himself, he growled at it, he tossed it, he tossed himself(so it appeared). TOtally apeshit. Kept taking small pieces. It was time for his dinner so I grabbed it, went in and grated it into his food. Total bowl destruction, ending in overturning the dish and whining.
THe heeler pup is cool but he has his quirks. If one of us stays within a few feet he eats - no FOMO. We walk away - he'd leave a plate of carrots and steak over FOMO. Wish he was a little less inclined to get snappy during light play or belly/body rubs. The beatings continue. j/k
I agree on all the training stuff and we do much of that. Part of issue with his velcroness is also that he isn't housebroken, so we have to velcro to HIM a bit. Unless we want a totally piss-stained house. No - the lady is already on me to steam clean the entire downstairs again, after doing in December. I look forward to him growing up and becoming a better citizen. Previous dog I had a bed under my stranding desk and another out in the living room. I could trust the big fuck in either room or lounging by himself in a sunbeam by the piano and plants.
We've had no real problems for a 12 week old pup we've had 6 weeks. He has taken to going to the door. Oddly, he's never crapped in the house and only one time in his crate when we first got him.
I've read that herders tend to fixate on things and you want to redirect their attention before it becomes obsessive. Like shadows and light reflections. Scout was fixated on shadows and he seemed to get it after I put my hand to the road (so it was touching the shadow it cast) and he investigated while I said shadow. Now if he's reacting to one I tell him it's just a shadow and he moves along.
On the belly rubs, he'll grow to trust you more over time which is normal. You can also train it by treating him as you go to touch him and slowly moving the timing of reward back to when you touch and then after you touch and then after a few seconds of rubs and then longer and then never. Just be careful not to over-reward and overexcite because then he'll get mouthy in the future which is an issue I have with Scout while trying to clip his nails.
There is definitely something to your "watches shadows theory. He has a strong aversion to passing our brushed stainless(yuck) fridge, I think due to that transfixed thing. At first he would lock his legs when we were going past it. Now he's found a coping mechanism - he hugs the fridge while he walks past and doesn't look at it. My wife thinks he has trouble seeing in low light - I think he has no trouble, she's the one not seeing what he sees.
I do the "car wash" method along his body. He's totally fine unless he stupidly tries to roll to his back on a hard floor. He should have been a wrestler, he obviously hates being pinned. Although, he has no issue sleeping with all 4 straight up.
Heelers are prone to progressive retinal apathy and low light issues are the first sign. But reflections can also be a trigger to their nutso brains. Scout is a lightchaser, so one time he got out and tried to chase down the ex who had just drove off he ended up trying to "catch" the shiny wheel of a car that luckily saw him or me waving them down and stopped right as he dove in front of the wheel. Scary shit. Another time I was training him to stay in the yard and a neighbor had a Culligan bottle that was sloshing and throwing light so Scout bolted to it, completely ignoring me.
