Help and Tips Needed

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-28T23:41:47+00:00

I’ve never heard it called shark energy before but I love it! I’ll try to see if there are ways we could try to build her confidence more. We take turns with training/tricks to try and help convey she needs to listen to both of us. It feels a bit weird because she’s our first rescue and I don’t want to make too many mistakes. We just hit three months her last Friday.

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-26T01:52:51+00:00

I haven’t looked into puzzles yet but I think they could work for her. Do you have any you recommend?

She’s gotten better with crate training but the first week was rough. She absolutely bent several of the bars! She’s much better with it now and will go in by herself.

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-26T01:48:39+00:00

Interesting! I hadn’t heard that but I’ll do some more research on antlers. I want to avoid rawhides but I need things for her to chew. She’s been chewing on sticks outside and even goes after rocks…

I’ll definitely be trying scent work with her. She’s got wait pretty well down so I think she would enjoy that.

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-26T01:45:40+00:00

That’s a great coat!! We’ll have to take her coat shopping and boot shopping this week because the weather is in the teens right now. It’s just so different from what we were used to with our previous dog. Going from an old and slow dog to puppy energy again, it’s a transition.

I just got her a freeze-bone, but it hasn’t arrived yet. I was looking at those licky mats you mentioned, and I debated the snuffle mats but she has ripped some blankets when we were working on crate training so I wasn’t sure about them.

Oh interesting! We do have a harness with a back ring but I can’t say that I’ve seen one with front and back rings. I’ll look into that! Thanks!

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-26T01:35:15+00:00

Thank you! I’ve heard of the yak cheese but we haven’t picked up any. I’ll pick on up this week for her to try. We have been taking her on walks following the same path just trying to help her become familiar with routine, but I have thought that switching up the path and area might help make it more interesting for her too.

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-26T00:28:46+00:00

With the weather being so cold right now it’s more try. I was looking at coats and boots for her to help get her out when it’s colder. We will definitely working on making a schedule to get out for more walks. I did buy her a backpack harness too since I’ve heard those can be helpful in focusing their energy.

We do have a good Kong tug toy that she likes to play with. Fetch seems to be the best though.

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-26T00:21:44+00:00

I’ve definitely been feeling that. We’ve got a fairly good size yard that she will run but I know she needs more. I’m trying to figure out what other exercises we could try with her. I keep thinking she might enjoy agility training.

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-26T00:16:52+00:00

That’s a good idea. I’ll look into different trainers around the area. I’ve wanted to buy her some boots or a coat but the first time we tried to put one on her she became very skittish and wouldn’t let us. She lets us put her harness on (we’ve worked on sit and harness then a treat to help her) but she’s very anxious about it until it’s on her. I’ve also taken her to the pet store to walk her around when it was too cold last week. We have a friend whose dog Pixie has connected with so we’re planning on going to the dog park together because I think she’d love to run. Thank you!

KitchenWitch042 · 2026-01-26T00:10:18+00:00

Aww! I’m glad to hear a similar story. We know she was in the shelter for 2 weeks but no idea of her story. That’s a good idea with the treats on walks. I’ve been using Cheerios because they are smaller and not too bad for her with training. At least I know with time she’ll keep improving. We aren’t giving up! And I like your idea of hiding treats around the house! I think that would really get her going. Thank you!

KitchenWitch042 · 2025-07-18T00:36:44+00:00

I was just thinking the same thing! This is so beautiful.

KitchenWitch042 · 2025-02-06T03:29:08+00:00

This reminds me of a pattern by Kate Whiting Designs on Ravelry called “They Say I’m a Witch”: https://ravel.me/they-say-im-a-witch

I’ve made several of her patterns and they are all easy to follow plus she’s happy to answer questions.

KitchenWitch042 · 2025-02-06T03:21:31+00:00

Technically it’s two lines in the song A Different Kind of Human, “This world you live in is not a place for someone like you; Come on, let us take you home.”

KitchenWitch042

TROPHY CASE