The Weekend

We've been getting a little more exercise, though not as much as I'd hoped.  Even though Friday was officially the first day of Summer, it started raining late yesterday and still hasn't stopped.  Mary and I had big plans to take the kids, Gimme and Grafton, for a big walk tomorrow - since Mary has the day off.  Unfortunately the forecast is for rain and lots of it, so that may not happen.

On the phantom pregnancy front - things are going well.  I discovered the effect of Ignatia wasn't the same the second time around, which is when I realized that without intending to, I'd stopped giving her the Pulsatilla.  That is the homeopathic I started with, because I had it on hand, so she'd been getting it for five days when I first tried the Ignatia.  Now that I'm back to giving both of them, she is doing great.

Honestly she's being a big puppy girl, wanting to play all the time.  She is constantly bringing me toys and trying to engage me in play.  I've even put away the two babies and after a short while she stopped looking for them and transferred her attentions to her other toys.  There have been no more emotional outbursts or unusual sensitivity episodes.  Yesterday I took her to the park where the skateboarders are and she did much better with them.  She did show concern about one guy on roller-blades, but both times he seemed to appear out of nowhere.  I'll have to make sure to set that up properly.

We've also had two training sessions in the last 36 hours and she was completely focused and eager.  I'm also seeing that her impulse control is returning.  Of course, tomorrow's Public Dog class will be the big litmus test.  I hope she does well; if so, we'll get back to walking around the lake.  I'll also be eager to find where our loose leash walking has been hiding.

Yesterday we met Mary and Susan for a nosework practice; with containers, exterior and vehicle hides.  Gimme was enthusiastic and 100% focused throughout.  We have learned some very interesting things about these three dogs.  Gimme will basically do the same kind of element over and over and over again.  She doesn't get bored, though she may start showing some "creativity" as things go along - especially if she thinks she has been finding the hides too quickly.  Both Tucker and Grafton are lower drive than Gimme.  Tucker does best if we only do the same kind of hide a few times, then he wants to do another element.  Grafton will do one or two searches and then loses interest - even if Mary has really good rewards.  However, if we pair the hides, then he gets back into it -- so we'll be doing a lot more paired hides with him in the future.

I love nosework.  It is so natural to the dogs and its one time when they get to do what comes naturally to them.  It builds confidence in the dogs and teaches us humans to really carefully watch our dogs and go with what they are telling us.