After our talk on Monday, I changed Gimme to a different, less chaotic class. Originally I put her in a different Thursday class, but someone else needed that slot, so I changed to puppy class yesterday. I took our milk crate to work on that trick and we worked on some other behaviors.
There were supposed to be three puppies, but only two showed up. Gimme did better with that quieter class. She paid no attention to Ursula dropping a crutch nearby - noticed, but unconcerned. Everyone wears funny hats and a boy wheeled around the room in a wheelchair, so she got to practice sitting politely while he pet her. She enjoyed walking over and through all the different things that were on the floor (this class is about puppies exploring different experiences). I can't say that she enjoyed walking down the metal grate see-through stairs, but she did it. She's clearly not afraid of it, but the stairs are uncomfortable on the feet (Ursula tried it barefoot herself).
We also played "pass the puppy". The puppies actually stay put and the humans rotate. Gimme thoroughly enjoyed all the people who came to see her - she can never get enough attention from people and is just sure that a stranger is simply someone who has not yet had the blessing of meeting her. Interestingly, after that she was clearly tired. I was pleased to see that, as I expected, she wasn't overly concerned about me leaving her with strangers - though she was happy to have me come back.
I researched different natural and alternative approaches to false pregnancy symptoms. Before class that day I made sure I got her out to run off leash for a three mile walk, so I'm sure that helped. Today after nosework class Mary with Grafton and me with Gimme went to walk around the Capitol Campus. Gimme was THRILLED to see her Grafton and they had fun taking every opportunity to get their leashes tangled. There are rarely dogs there, so it was a nice chance to get in 1.5 miles. Her loose leash walking is absent; she claims she's never heard of it. We'll probably go tomorrow as well. Today I was able to get some of the other natural/alternative remedies, one of which made a DRAMATIC difference. I am thrilled with how much it has helped her - she got her single pellet 7 hours ago and is still a happy relaxed camper. She's also getting Raspberry Leaf Tea in her drinking water and Evening Primrose Oil.
For class tonight we met at a park and did three exterior hides. Gimme did a great job on two of them, finding them very quickly. On the third one she blew by it and just gave a nose tilt (which I missed, but Joyce saw it) and then spent all her time having fun searching every other spot she could. We also did an interior hide in one of the bathrooms and she found that very quickly.
Now we are going to camp out on the couch, watch a movie and I'm gonna massage my foot for about 2 hours.
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