Public Dog (10)

The weather cooperated, so we were able to meet Mary and Grafton out at the training area for a nice long walk.  The two of them thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  They were clearly thrilled to get to really play with each other. 

An intriguing thing I noticed and Mary commented on was how much more actively playful Gimme was.  As she has gotten older, she has tended to stick closer to me and be less interested in boisterous play with her Grafton.  So it was interesting to see that.  I don't know if its because its been so long since they got to play free like that or if it relates to the homeopathic remedies we are using.  It'll be interesting to see if it lasts.

After that I had a couple of errands and then Public Dog class.  Gimme did much better, pretty much just like she did at the first couple of classes.  She was eagerly working me for treats.  It clearly wasn't easy for her, but she was not over emotional and she was acting like herself again.  I guess we can unequivocally say the homeopathy is a success.

BTW I worked on her loose leash walking using 300 Pecks and was able to get consistently up to 8 steps, several times to 10 and once to 15.  It occurs to me that it was one of the things we'd really just been starting to get solid before the false pregnancy - so that may explain why it was the one thing that suddenly disappeared.  Gimme had the best recalls of the class and Elizabeth praised us on them.  And we also did a mock of the greet a friendly stranger and Gimme was able to keep her footies on terra firma.

Then we had about a 2 hour break before we met Susan and Mary for roving nosework practice.  Susan and Tucker are trialing on Saturday and we didn't want to do any nosework in the couple days before the trial, so we decided to do it tonight - one search on each element.  Then class on Wednesday will be his last before the trial. 

For roving nosework... we went to three different locations.  We did one two room interior search at the quilt shop.  Both Gimme and Tucker did well with 2 inaccessible hides. 

Then we drove a few blocks to the park and did an exterior with 1 inaccessible and 1 accessible.  That inaccessible was really a hard one and both dogs had to work quite awhile to find it.  If they'd done that at a trial it wouldn't have been as difficult, since it would have had much more time to cook.  Plus the breeze was very light and variable direction.  Gimme was repeatedly distracted by a lot of barking neighbor dogs nearby.  Grafton joined us here and was also very distracted, but he's always been environmentally sensitive - we basically had to help him find both paired hides, so he could end on success.

From there we went to Home Depot and set up two hides on their rental equipment (1 truck, 2 trailers and 1 chipper).  All the dogs were very interested in the strip of grass right behind them - though none of them tried to mark there.  We had to restart Tucker, but then he got down to business - so the lesson for Susan is that he needs time to acclimate.  Gimme found one hide right away and then totally ignored where I knew I'd put the other one.  Instead she went to the other trainer and indicated near the hitch... and I called her a "liar".  Then Mary 'fessed that she'd moved it while I was giving Gimme a chance to potty.  I believe that falls under the category of TRUST YOUR DOG.  Grafton did a nice job of finding both the hides and the big chunks of chicken I paired them with -- this location was much quieter.

After that we set up a container element - two odors, two distractions and twelve bags.  Tucker didn't do as well at this... he was slower to settle, so Susan called two false alerts.  Gimme did very well... tried to sell me on the box with the peanut butter in it, but really only alerted on the right containers.  We removed the distractions and paired odor for Grafton and he did a nice job. 

So now Miss Gimme is pretty well spent.  Its been a really full day for us both.

Public Dog (8)

Gimme did okay for class.  I've received the stress support supplement for dogs (Serenity Now) and have now given it to her for a couple days.  I don't yet notice any benefit, but even though the hormones cause stress, I think her condition is more about the hormones.

I'd discovered that her understanding of how to win while relaxing had deteriorated and essentially turned into a feeding frenzy.  Hormones are driving her to eat everything in sight and she's actually gained a couple of pounds.  So during class on Thursday, I worked on reestablishing a calmer routine and focus on self control.  It was hard for Gimme, but she is getting it. 

The class was working on all the things the dog needs to accept comfortably from other people.  During class we each did them to our dogs, while observed by an instructor and got signed off as either "good" or "needs work".  For instance one task is brushing the dog.  I didn't bring a brush (don't even own a dog brush), so I just used my wad of keys in my hand and stroked them over her body.  Gimme did fine with that - thought it was a bit odd, but she is really so good about any touch that nothing fazes her.  The other tasks were: examining teeth/mouth, ears and feet, pulling tail, and hard patting on the head.  Gimme got signed off on all the tasks - easily...

Yesterday we met Susan and Mary for a nosework practice.  We met at Lowes and set up container drills in the parking lot.  Gimme was not as focused as usual and more whiney than usual.  Tucker is doing so well in the beginning and less so on later exercises; his attitude and drive have improved now that Susan is bringing better goodies.  I think he's gotten good enough with the food distraction concept that he gets bored with repetitions.  So in the future we are going to do just a couple of container drills and then some exterior searches.  Grafton did well on his first search but after that he was mostly checked out.  Turns out Mary brought unexciting treats and once Grafton found out, he wasn't inspired to work through the distraction of the environment.  We made Mary give up her dinner to use as treats and that helped quite a bit.  Right now his natural indication is in a state of flux... so we are working on strengthening a component of it.

Now am off to my parents' for Father's Day and painting...