The Dogs of Jackman Ave

I added some additional Goals for 2007 to my list and one of them is to include our training progress in my blog entries (yinz guys can just skip over that stuff...it's more of a record for me). So that's gonna be at the bottom of my posts. Or it will be all I post...depending on what's going on.

Now for the fun stuff!

Scott & I (finally) moved the ottoman from the dining room to our bedroom. It was taking up way too much room & blocking our beautiful new sofa table. The Dogs have always loved hanging out on ottoman so I figured they'd enjoy it upstairs too. I threw one of the dog beds on it to get it out of the way (we're running out of room for all this stuf!)

Guess who made herself comfy?

"And it's even better if you throw my blanky on it!"

Training progress (1/3/07):

Penny - LLW was decent...immediately changed directions if the leash was taut. Had to do that a handful of times. Concentrated on really reinforcing her voluntarily checking in. Did lots of fun heeling stuff (zig zagging, running, changing directions...basically making an ass out of myself in front of my neighbors). Practiced some stays on the front porch (LOTS of distractions). Pushed her too long and then backed up and did some shorter sit & down stays. Much better. Taught her a new trick, Whack! (in a down, she slams her paw on the ground...think "whack a mole")...didn't add a cue yet.

(I spent the part of my day off watching Pam Dennison's Camp R.E.W.A.R.D DVD & found my faith again. It was a good kick in the butt & reminded me of what I need to be doing with Lola.)

Lola - I gave her a big kiss & told her I did not hate her, did not want to leave her in the woods & was not sorry we ever got her (all things I said on Tuesday on the way home...mean Mommy :o(. ) I love her & we'll work together to fix her problem. So off we went. Worked on her being calm on the front porch before the walk (she starts to stress the second we're out the front door)...did very well. Asked her for a couple behaviors before we went (sit & touch). Heeled down both steps beautifully. Worked a TON on attention & her automatically checking in with me. She was stellar! Changed directions if she lost focus (only happened 3 times). Did lots of back up recalls (Recently Lola thinks Come means stare at me then run away). Had a party any time we heard a dog bark (me clapping and saying Yeahhhh and feeding her). Saw another dog by the Vets...she looked at it, looked at me (another party) and we turned around. She did not bark ONCE!!! Finished with some more behaviors on the porch (down, touch, stay, come). We're going to be doing a lot of work in the front yard from now on.

It was a very good night!