Penny & I had the best Rally Class yet. She was so wonderful. We did a couple new things that she & I had never done before. One was a moving down where you're heeling & when you stop, the dog has to go right into a down from a stand. It took 2-3 trys w/ me luring her and then she was just doing it on her own.

We also did Sit & Down Stays while you walk around the dog. Annette does this a ton in teaching stays and Penny knows it very well. We still need work on the finishes, but she's getting better. She did the slow pace station w/o sitting, which is a marked improvement. She sat a couple times on the 360 turn left. My turns were too tights. Once I made them bigger, she was fine.

Rally is lots of fun!!!

Lola went to Camp today for the first time in a month. I talked to the manager when I dropped her off & told her about Lola's newfound reactivity. She promised to keep an eye on her & watch for any signs of aggression toward other dogs. I watched her on the camper cam for part of the day & she was just fine. She was having a blast.

Sherman & Penny and I went for a nice hike at the park. Toward the end of the walk, we rounded a corner and a jogger & her (very chubby) JRT were coming toward us. I high-tailed it the other way & we went up on the hill a bit. I asked the dogs to sit (they did ~gasp~) and told them to Leave It and they didn't make a peep (~double gasp!!~). But the JRT started barking at them and the girl started KICKING him down the trail! I yelled "HEY!" but she had headphones on & didn't hear me. She just kept going...kicking him everytime he turned around & barked.

I really do hate people.

Now there is something you don't see every day.

Scott took Sherman on his walk tonight as I really wanted to get some time in w/ Lola.

I tried to get into the Feisty Fido class at Animal Friend which is taught by my friend Lilian. It's already full (it doesn't even start till January) but she agreed to do some private lessons w/ us. She also offered me some suggestions in the meantime. First of all, do away w/ the Gentle Leader...Sure! I can always go back to it if it I need to. I fit Lola w/ Sherman's old Senseation harness, grabbed my clicker & some good stuff & we walked outside through the backyard. Might as well start out w/ something totally new. Of course, being that it was 5:30, the whole flipping neighborhood & their dogs were outside. Lola immediately started stressing & barking and I back up into the yard again & did some basic obedience stuff to get her attention. When she was calm, I walked back out into the front of the house. I made sure to maintain a very high rate of reinforcement with her so she didn't have a chance to stress (I read enough about this crap...I'm finally getting that I actually have to DO it to be successful). She actually managed to remain calm even with lots of people milling around & trying to talk to me. Ugh! It's great to have nice neighbors but I need a big sign to wear around my neck that says "WE'RE WORKING! PLEASE LEAVE US ALONE!". Anyway, then Scott & Sherman came out & got her all worked up. I just changed directions and let them go on their merry way. We'd walk two houses...she'd stress. I'd back up and c/t when she was focused on me...turn around and make it 5 houses. She'd hear a dog bark two towns away and stress...back up and continue to c/t for attention & calm reaction to things. It went on this way for a while...2 houses, 5 houses, 3 houses, 2 houses, 8 houses...all & all we were outside for about 20 minutes and she did really well considering all of the commotion. Until a dog walked past the house & then she freaked. She did a scary bark at my neighbor...who she LOVES. That's not a good sign. He's cool about everything though & when I explained what I was doing, he said "Hey, when I hear that clicker, I know I have to ignore her". Finally! I'm gonna use him to help me.

Penny & I went for a walk next & this whole LLW thing is really sinking in. The first 1/2 a block is tough...she needs a lot of reminders. Then it's smooth sailing. I've been using primarily Be A Tree w/ her but am going to start doing Penalty Yards for the first part of the walk. She's a smart cookie. It won't take long. Then we need to move on to really distracting places to practice. By spring...we should be cookin'!

I had really nice walks w/ Sherman & Penny, despite the miserable weather. Penny pulled a bit at the beginning but by the end of our walk, she was perfect. I've been working on changing the length of the leash so she gets that it doesn't matter how long the leash is, it still has to be loose.

The stress from Lola's vet visit yesterday carried over to today & she was completely unnerved today. I didn't push her and kept our walk to about 2 minutes...literally. She was that freaked out. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Lola started having issues with her hind end over the weekend. She was licking constantly & by Sunday night, the whole area was red & swollen. I had been putting Bag Balm on the underside of her tail b/c it was so irritated and it appears to have made the problem worse.

I took her to the Vet to have her anal glands expressed and the whole experience was really tramautic for her. We started off in the waiting room w/ a woman & her two cats. Lola was fine with that I did attention stuff to keep her focused on me. The woman commented that she was doing very well and insisted that I "must watch the Dog Whisperer because I knew how to show my dog who was in charge". Hmmm...don't know where she got that. But I just ignored the comment.

As we were going into the exam room, a GSD came into the waiting room & she flipped. I got her into the back and managed to have them weigh her (she's 42 lbs) and then they put her up on the table. Dr. Moore spun her around when he was expressing her glands & she couldn't see me & started to flip out. I moved in front of her & she calmed a bit but by the time the whole thing was done she was very stressed. They let us sneak out the back door after I paid b/c the waiting room was full. Once outside, she calmed down a bit and was fine once we got home.

Both Lola & Sherman had very good classes today.

Lola did very well w/ not reacting to other dogs (she did playbow a couple of times to a LabX puppy but Leave it works well to get her attention). Debby had us demo LLW & wouldn't ya know it...she did great! They also set up some agility equipment and she did everything w/o issue. Hopped over 2 jumps (set at about 12"), went through the tire, jumped up on the pause table, ran right up a mini A frame and right through the tunnel. Fun stuff!

Sherman decided that today he likes other dogs. He played w/ a Spinone Italiano pup (about 8 months, male and intact...amazing for Sherman!) and only snarked a yellow lab once. He sat 2 feet from Cheyenne the entire class and it was like she wasn't even there. Good boy!

I wish I knew what was in the air today so I could bottle it!

She's such a little diva dog...

The last 2 days have been very good dog days. I'm taking each dog on their own walk and really working on getting all of our little issues worked out.

Sherman has been working on heeling, attention and recalls. Both of these are fine at home (everyone's dog is perfect at home!) but we really haven't worked a lot around distractions. What more distracting than an entire neighborhood that needs peed on! I've been using treats & Go Sniff (aka Go Pee) as his reward. He gives me 10 good steps of heeling w/ attention & he gets several minutes of sniffing & peeing. (Sounds strange, but Sherman is a marking fool!) Then we do it again and he'll get a treat. We're having a blast! And...he now has an automatic sit at intersections and is sitting a lot faster when we move aside to let someone pass on the sidewalk.

Penny's continues to work on LLW and we are about 90% of the way there. I'm very proud of her. We also continue to work on her reactivity to other dogs on leash & she's doing very, very well with that. As long as they don't get too close to her, I can ask her to sit and give me attention & she does.

Lola is also doing a lot better w/ not reacting to dogs and the GL has completely stopped her pulling. Right now, I've suspended a great deal of the LLW training and am focusing on her issues on leash. Monday night we had zero issues & a truly lovely walk. Tonight, we saw 3 dogs and I was lucky to have plenty of room to move her about 75 feet away from them and ask her to sit. She did Woof once but it was a "Hey! I see you!". At the end of the walk, we did see a neighbor & her dog approaching and they were about 50 feet away. I thought they were going into their house so I asked her to sit (she did) and praised her for not freaking out (I had run out of treats), but then they made a dash across the street & ended up about 20 feet away. Lola threw a full out tantrum and I said tried to run away from them as fast as I could. She did follow & settled down quickly, but I was annoyed. I would have turned & walked away from them if I knew they were coming our way to avoid a freak out. I still can't determine if this is a frustration thing (I want you to come play with me) or an avoidance/fear thing (stay away from me). But we'll just continue to work on it.

Lola has revisited an old habit of hiding under the bed. If I'm looking around for her & can't find her, usually I just have to look down & I'll see this:


Problem is, she really doesn't fit. When I pull up the dust ruffle, her little body is so smooshed in there...it can't possibly be comfortable. But apparently it is b/c she's under the bed constantly.

Annette bought Lola a bungee Boxer toy. While she does get to play with it some, guess who has decided it should be his???

When Sherman has it, there is no playing. He just "holds" it.

Penny & I went to Rally class today & had a great time. She was pretty snarky w/ one of the dogs there (full moon fever), but is really good about focusing on me when I ask her. This class is really fun & even if I never actually try it out in competion, it gives us some fun rainy day things to do. Her finishes are still pretty bad, but that's b/c I didn't work on them one single day last week. But her heeling was decent, her automatic sits are perfect & her fronts are pretty good too (I need to work on getting her to come in closer to me.)

We walked the course that they had set up & she did surprisingly well. I used very little food (only for finishes) and she was pretty good about followingly my lead. Problem with this whole Rally thing is my 2 left feet. Penny's staring at me and not watching where were going & I run her right into the cones. I tend to make my circles around the cones too tight & she ends up knocking them over. Considering this is only our second time attempting anything like this, we're doing pretty well.

Lola had class today and is really doing much better. I'm still putting aside my feelings for the GL & keeping it on her as it really seems to calm her down. It's not forever...just till we get over the hump. Debby has this thing she does in class for barking dogs. When they start barking, she has the owner walk the dog around their chairs (there are usually 2 or 3 in a group) and refocus. While Lola rarely barks anymore, she does get bored (and frustrated). She will calmly lay down sometimes, but other times she walks to the end of the leash, sits to faces me & pulls backward on her leash (stubborn little turkey!). I do hand targeting w/ her to get her back to me, but have found this also works to refocus her attention on me. It also helps us work on heeling & sitting in the right position (she's on the inside closest to the chairs).

She did show off her BANG! trick & roll-over but she wouldn't jump up on a pause table for handling (it was covered in astroturf...maybe that was it).

Sherman & I skipped class & I took him & Penny on a long neighborhood walk together. As the EW harness is no longer effective for her, I put her on the GL b/c I was feeling lazy & just wanted to get some exercise.

Debby & I then went to the PetExpo. I was a little disappointed that there weren't more vendors, but I did get Lola a pretty pink & purple coat for winter...that is too small :o(.

While I doubt Sherman will ever like Lola, he is much more tolerant of her. She trys to get him to play with her every single day & he just doesn't appreciate her exhuberant play style. He usually ends up snarking in her face (which she just view as an additional invite to play).

She can, now, lay next to him without him chasing her off the bed or giving her the Lion's Roar he's so famous for.

They can even chew next to each other peacefully.

He still likes her best when she's sleeping...

Wow...what a slacker I am!!! I won't let it go this long w/o blogging again. Not that we've been slacking at home. Lola graduated from Annette's Teen class & started Debby's Manners class, Sherman started Shelley's CGC class & Penny started Rally class.

Lola continues to be a nightmare outside on leash...very reactive & barky...lunging at every dog she sees. I finally realized that on our nightly neighborhood walks she gets particularly stressed & anxious the further we get from the house. This isn't a problem in the car & she is definately not as freaked out once we reach our destination, usually daycare or class (will have to revisit the park soon to see if that has changed). This is a new thing (last 2 months) & she was walked plenty in the neighborhood as a puppy w/o incident. So, I'm working on gradually walking her greater distances and not pushing her. We'll get there.

Sherman is just a flip out in class...his heeling is a mess and the sight of food sends him into a frenzy. I never work on heeling with him b/c he rarely pulls on lead and it wasn's something I felt I needed to invest time in. It would help to have that behavior in tight class environment. A new challenge for us. It should be an interesting 7 weeks.

Penny is a bit rusty as all we've really worked on in the last couple months are her leash manners. I'm only working her a couple times a week & really need to up the anty. By the end of class she was back in the groove. She could be pretty good at this Rally thing if I could commit to a solid daily training schedule for her. I'm gonna drop into Annette's Advanced class a few times so that should help too.

There just aren't enough hours in the day!

I'm not sure if you can see the depth of this hole that the dogs have dug...when Penny is at the bottom digging, you can only see her little nubbin'. Penny & Lola have a little system going. Penny gets deep in the hole & kicks the dirt out...and Lola is right behind her moving that dirt so it doesn't go back into the hole.

This was their designated dig spot, but it 's gotten so deep we're (aka Scotty) gonna have to fill it in so it doesn't cause foundation problems.




The girls also search for treasures in the ferns...

Class tonight was Sssooooo much better. Lola was a bit barky at first, but I had the Gentle Leader on her & that helped. That is until she decided to play drama queen and throw herself to the ground or fling her head back in forth till I thought it was going to pop off. But that didn't last long.

We started working on attention (I'm still just using her name rather than a word and it's working very well) while Annette was going over some stuff. And I got her to focus on me while Apache was doing the demo for graduation games. We did some heeling, recalls, sits, downs and stays & she was wonderful. She's responding well to "Leave It" if I get it out before she obsesses and I managed to keep her focus on me when the Fox Terrier was close.

I feel rejuvenated!

Some wedding photos from the big day!

The ceremony at Phipps...

Kevin & Katie at the Inn

Riding on Molley's Trolley

My Mom, Carl, Kevin, Katie, me & Scotty

The Hurley clan...Uncle Rich, my Dad, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Patty, Karen, Aunt Mary, Uncle Cliff, Aunt Betsy, Mark, me, Bird, Katie & Scotty

The bridal party at the park

Me cheesin' it up.

This is Kevin's wedding weekend so Lola goes to Camp and Sherman & Penny have to deal w/ being neglected (just kidding...they're fine).

Here are some pics from the rehearsal dinner:

Aren't Scott & I a cute couple?

My Mom & Carl...

Carl & Pastor Clement...

I've actually done a good job all week of working with each of my dogs. Ideally I would give each of them 1/2 hour of my undivided attention each day. I managed this 3 days this week...better than nothing. Sherman gets his beloved neighborhood walk & we do practice basic manners, attention, automatic sits, recalls, etc. But mostly he just walks & pees on stuff.

Penny & Lola had a couple of LLW & training sessions. Penny is still doing well w/ her leash manners & we started advancing on behaviors I've been slacking on...Stand, Finishes, longer
Stays w/ more distractions & distinguishing cues. I also do lots of targeting w/ her because she LOVES it.

Lola is doing better with LLW & I'm doing better about working her within her threshold. We can make it 80% of the way down the block before she starts to lose focus. Up to that point, she is fabulous. Lots of attention, very loose leash, staying close to me. But we hit the last house on the street & I lose her. So I turn around & head back down the street. We'll get there. We also worked on Heeling, Stays, Finishes & Targeting.

By the end of the week though, I just wanted to go on a walk. No training, just a plain old walk. I took Sherman & Penny together & she pulled a bit at the beginning but quickly remembered her job. Then I took Lola out on a Gentle Leader (which she was less than thrilled about, but forgot about quickly) and it was a God-send. It was the nicest walk we've had since she was a puppy. I refuse to use it as a crutch as it's easy to forget about the training & just manage things (which I did w/ Penny & have regretted)...but it's good for occasional use.

Little Miss Full of Herself and I went back to class tonight. I should have known we were in for trouble the minute we got out of the car. Lola was barking & lunging at all the other dogs, flailing herself around at the end of the leash & generally being a total brat. ~sigh~ How the hell did this happen? I've done everything right with this dog...super socialized her with people and dogs as a teeny puppy, enrolled her in 1/2 dozen classes, taken her lots of places to experience lots of things and done training at home with her almost everyday. It must be my destiny. I went through all of this with Penny...I didn't however, create the monster that she was. It's just frustrating to take so much time & end up with the same thing. Maybe it's a Boxer thing, maybe it's an age thing, maybe it's just me & I suck at this. I don't know. Lola is lucky that I love her & will continue to put in the time to make her as perfect as Penny. I must say...working through all of these issues is very fulfilling when your hard work pays off.

Anyway, one of our new things is little dogs. There is a Bichon, Fox TerrierX and a Cairn Terrier in our class...and of course, Annette had Chip (affectionatly referred to as Demon Dog). Lola's never really been around little dogs and she's decided that it would be best to eat them. Well, probably not, but she gets so overstimulated when one walks past her she loses her mind. After about 20 minutes of sheer frustration (and Annette reminding me "YOU wanted this!!") I decided to put what I've learned reading all of these damn training books & break out the Peanut Butter (which I carry w/ me in a food tube & use if I need the "Big Guns"). I did open bar/close bar with Lola, which is essentially, little dog is near...Lola gets PB; little dog walks away, PB goes away. This actually worked pretty well if the little dogs weren't too close. We need to do more work on this & I may try to find a small dog class I can participate in (at a distance, of course) to work on desensitizing her.

By the end of class, I was exhausted.