It's been a while but Tikaani is getting there

[Lynn]

So I haven't posted in a while because I recently rescued a few new pairs of sugar gliders and by the time I work w/ Tikaani all day (and deal w/ the cat *we swear he's Satan's cat*) and handle the gliders at night, I'm exhausted...but I'm really glad to say Tikaani's pretty much back to housebroken. We started getting much more strict w/ crating her during the day. We really only had to do it for a week and she learned that going outside is what made us happy. We bought her Kongs, but those really didn't peak her interest for more than a min or two. She likes things she can tear up (and eat I might add...and that I don't know what to do about). She's doing much better w/ housebreaking, and listening, not great, but better w/ listening.

So our next few things we want to accomplish is not jumping up on people or the couch/chair arms. She doesn't get up on the couches at all for some reason, but if you're sitting down she'll jump up on the arms of the chair, or she'll jump up on a person she wants to see, namely, me. It's just a habit I want to break early but I'm not really sure how to do it. I have just been putting my hand on her chest and gently pushing her down and telling her "down" as I do it, but it's not working.

Next is her chewing. She's now got every chewy toy under the sun I swear, every type of Kong, or hard rubber toy I can find, but she's not interested in any of it. She'll nose it for a few min. but she always finds something that she can tear up. Ie. the kitchen towel hanging on the stove, my flipflops, my running shoes, my socks, (oh, and it's almost always MY stuff..ugh). If she can shred it, she's happy. The biggest concern I have though is that she EATS it. *frowns* If I take it away from her, she just finds something else to shred. (and the little bugger learned how to open doors!!! just jumps up and hits the handle and pulls it down, then the door pops open. I DID NOT teach her that! lol)

On the plus side, when she gets in trouble, she knows it, and all I have to do is say "go lay down" and she goes and gets in her crate. I don't even have to close the door on her. She will stay in there for a good period of time.

[lassie]

Dahhhhhh what's a sugar glider??????????????????

[Lynn]

sugar gliders are kinda like a flying squirrel....but they're marsupials so they're related to kangaroos. Very tiny, smaller than the size of my palm. In the 80s and 90s they were a fat purchase w/ the "pocket pet" generation...so tons of people bought them, not knowing their specialized diets and care and either ended up killing them or having to give them away b/c they got mean w/ the owners. Currently we have 7, 3 pairs and one by herself b/c her mate died from abuse by the previous owner. They require a lot of time and attention but people just buy them b/c they "look cute"....so now I've got to work w/ my newest 2 pairs to socialize them again so that they can be placed in permanent forever homes. So between all the gliders (they all have to have individual time b/c they only get along w/ their mates and none of the other pairs), Satan's cat and our dog (who has suddenly developed a taste for carpet and walks along licking it) I've been run every which way lol. Just wished I had better answers on some of her behaviors.

So hope that answered your question on what a glider is.

[MrsRottie]

Crikey!! And I thought my house was mad...LOL :D

Sounds like you're doing all the right things with Tikaani (cool name!) she's settling in really well.
Continue to push her off the chair - but I personally wouldn't speak to her as I was doing it. It's attention she's after, and doesn't understand whether it's negative or positive....so shove her off not looking or speaking to her...

The other thing is, if you use 'down' as a command ie lie down, then by pushing her off and saying 'down' could be confusing to her...

If she continues to do it, I would start to take her out of the room every time she does it, again without speaking or looking at her. Sounds a bit harsh, but is a sure fire quick way of getting her to stop - she will soon learn that jumping up = nothing.

Keep going - you're doing so well :)

[Lynn]

haha, my house only gets "mad" at about 8pm-10pm. The gliders sleep all day, waking up about 8ish. Unfortunately, that's the same time Satan's cat wants to get all hyper and playful, biting everything and running like a crazed lunatic back and forth through the house. This in turn rials the dog up and she starts chasing him back and forth through the house. The noise from those two makes the gliders start barking (and yes, they really bark. sounds almost like a little mini dog bark haha. really trippy to hear for the first time). This is a regular occurance everynight.

Tikaani still jumps, but I will try the "no attention" approach. :) I really need to get her out on longer walks than what we normally do daily and maybe that would wear her out more haha. I still have the problem of her chewing (and eating) everything. Found out she's also been nosing through our trashcan also lately in the bathroom...so now that door stays closed too.

I was REALLY proud of her today though. She went for a ride w/ me to Petsmart and another small petstore that's local. I have a relatively "small" car, but the trunk/hatch is an open area if I take off the top cover...so she can sit back there and have freedom to look around and even move back and forth. But, she's always been terrified of cars in general and I always have to pick her up. After our last store today, I bought her some baked goodies from the petshop and we headed back to the car, I opened the back and she actually tried to get in on her own!!! How exciting! She put her front paws up on the back but just didn't have enough momentum to get in so I helped her up. And the best part of it all is that she's not drooling anymore like she used to in the car!

I'm really starting to realize that she has come a LONG way from the dog we adopted 3 1/2 weeks ago. The first night we brought her home, she wouldn't even walk up the stairs on her own. Now, she's almost completely housebroken, listens *a little bit more than before lol*, and is playful w/ us! As frustrating as she can be sometimes lol, I couldn't have made a better choice for a dog :)

[Zoes_mama]

After reading all that, I just realized how much Tikaani and my sis's dog, Bear are alike. Or rather, were lol. When we first got him (he was abused by his previous owner) he would tear up everything in my room and eat it. So let's see, he's destroyed 5 blankets, 2 pillows (including my beloved feather pillow), 2 pillow cases, an eyeliner pencil, a cd case, a shirt, a tube of doggy toothpaste, my sister's retainer, and the list goes on. And of course all of that was mine, with the exception of the retainer. He also tore through the basement wall. We also had to teach him to walk up and down stairs. He also didn't know what toys were, or treats. so We taught him that. He didn't know how to walk on a leash. The only thing he did well was get along with animals of all kinds. But now he's a totally different dog. No more destroying anything, he LOVES his toys and even steals Zoe's. He likes his treats and his kong. And he's not too bad on walks. He does continue to lick the living room carpet though. I can't figure that one out. So I was thinking maybe it's just an abused thing, and she might get over it! Hopefully. But sounds like she's already doing way better!

[Lynn]

how did you get bear to play w/ his toys? or even get him interested in them? I was reading somewhere in the past that if a dog chews up your things, ie. things w/ your smell on them, it's b/c they like you ???? Does that claim have any basis? Not that I want her to hate me...but I wish she'd stop chewing stuff up. (I dont mind her licking the carpet as much...it's weird but it looks hilarious)

She's decent w/ a leash. She doesn't pull very hard but she always wants to be in the lead lol, natural instinct. Aside from getting her to like different DOG toys, the only other BIG problem I see is that she is VERY protective of our home, even when we're here and doesn't like other people in the house. I'm just afraid she might bite someone one day in the house, even though she isn't really all that "agressive" persay. We go out to petstores and the dog parks to try to get her used to other people and dogs, but that aside, I'm not sure what else I might be able to do. Any suggestions?

[Zoes_mama]

Well Bear only got interested in his toys after he saw Zoe with hers. So I'm not sure if that will help you. Also, once he got used to us, trusted us, we'd show him what to do. After awhile he just took to it. Now he likes to make us chase him for the toy lol!
You need to show her you're the alpha. Once you do that, she'll follow YOU, do as you say. Zoe used to be very protective too. Bear as well. But once we took charge, they were easier to control. They still bark, but aren't as hard to control.
But it sounds just like Tikaani is a fearful dog. Because of her history, it makes sense, being separated from the world like that. That's a great idea, socializing her though. I wish I could help more.

[Zoes_mama]

Oh, when she destroys things, are you out of sight from her? Could she think you're leaving her? Or is it just that she sees the cat toys and wants to destroy them? I was thinking it could be separation anxiety. But maybe not. I think that's what Bears problem was, though he was caught doing it, even when we were still home.

[Lynn]

We're thinking of taking her to this "doggie daycare" at Petsmart called the PetsHotel. We have to go see my boyfriend's dad in New Orleans the first of July (that's the soonest leave date AJ could get from the post) because he's become very ill, so we're thinking of kenneling her there. We've used it for our cat before and they really are a great place for animals. It's still about 4 weeks away but I wonder if just having playtime w/ other dogs and watching them play with toys would make any difference? I just don't want her to hate us for leaving her for a few days....

As for tearing up stuff...well, I'm home most of the day everyday b/c I work from home right now, and we go for nice walks in the morning to wear her out, and now that she's housebroken *for the most part* i only crate her when I have to leave, or overnight so she usually hangs out in the living room which is visible from the majority of the other rooms so she can always see me. What I notice though is she sneeks away and will go nose through our bathroom trashcan, or since she's figured out how to open doors, she'll wait until I'm busy w/ something and go into our closet and get my shoes. This girl is smart I tell ya! Most of the time though, she just picks up something because it's there. She loves the cats toys and as soon as the cat drops it, it's in her mouth....unfortunately she swallows though...ugh.

[lassie]

Thanks for the description of a sugar glider , can we have a piccie please they sound so cute?

[Lynn]

I only have a few right now that aren't all that great (usually when it's play time, i'm more interested in playing w/ them than taking pictures lol. we have tent time where I get them out and we play in a tent w/ toys and that way they can't run off and get lost on me.) but I'll try to take some pictures today of them while they're tired that way they don't run off on my haha.

[Lynn]

lassie...here's a couple pics of my gliders that you were asking for in tent time. Tikaani is so funny b/c i take the gliders into a tent and let them play that way I don't lose them in the house...and Tikaani isn't allowed in their room so she stands outside the door and everytime one of them makes a sound she does that weird "talking" that huskies are so good at. OH! and when the gliders barked an she heard it for the first time...boy oh boy did she get into a tizzy lol

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/delta_zeta/Pets/feathers.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/delta_zeta/Pets/wave.jpg

[Zoes_mama]

Omg sooo cute!! I've seen gliders before but yours are just adorable!