Wednesday, January 17, 2007



Lola loves to sit on the couch & watch TV. Notice how she sits like a person.

Training progress (1-16-07)

Sherman - My boy is in heaven! It was 30 degrees during our walk & he had an amazing spring in his step. (Sherman has a very thick heavy undercoat and one of the 10+ breeds in him is probably something Nordic. Probably Husky...may be why he hates them so much). Our walks have become so much fun. A lot less sniffing & a lot more running. I can call him away from things much easier. At intersections, what was once "Sherman, Stop...Sit...Wait" is now mostly automatic or Stop (he then Sits & Waits).

Lola - bundled the little skinny girl up in Penny's coat & off we went. I've had an attitude adjustment & it shows. I'm becoming more assertive with her, which gives me more confidence and, in turn, her more confidence. There was about 10 seconds of stress whining/growling on the porch and zero barking at other dogs/people. We saw all kinds of people & 2 dogs. When she saw the dogs I told her Leave It and she'd turn her attention to me. She did get a little anxious when we turned on our street, but I asked for attention & we did some heeling & she calmed down immediately. These are the good days!

Penny - took her to Ruth's Advanced class. Penny hasn't been to class for a while but didn't miss a step. Ruth commented on how great her Attention was. We practiced lots Heeling w/ distractions, Recalls, lots of Sit & Down Stays & Stand for Exam. I learned something new about Penny. We've never done much with Stand. She doesn't know the cue & won't Stand from a Sit & usually Sits when placed in a Stand. It's always something I've wanted to work on, just never do. But tonight, I helped her into a Stand & told her to Stay & she didn't budge. Ruth came around for the exam and she glanced at her but held her Stay. Hmmm....interesting. She's such a good dog!