Nosework (2/8)

I was so tempted to name this post "The Magic Wallet".  I managed to drive out of the place where we held our nosework field trip, leaving my wallet on top of the car.  Got home and fished around in the passenger seat for it, then realized what I'd done.  I immediately prayed to find it and drove the 6 miles back to the sports complex.  Then sloooooowly drove home looking along the road for it... and didn't see it.

You can imagine my angst, knowing all the things in my wallet and that I'm away from home this weekend and would need my VISA card.  I almost broke down in tears, when a little voice said, "but you didn't check the top of the car before heading out, maybe it was still there and you lost it in the alley".  So first, feeling foolish, I got out and checked the roof of the car.  Not there.  Then feeling even more foolish, I drove slowly down the alley with my high beams.  And there it was in the middle of the road, right after I'd turned out of the alley!  Everything still in it...

God is good.  He seems to be particularly good to this old fool.  You'd think I'd be cured of leaving things on top of my car given the last time it was a friend's 3 dog training DVDs.  We never found those and the replacement cost came in at precisely $101... a notable number for a Dalmatian lover.  So my new mantra is:  "I will not set things on top of the car...  I will not set things on top of the car...  I will not set things on top of the car...  I will not set things on top of the car...  I will not set things on top of the car..."

Nosework class was interesting and fun as usual.  We worked in a picnic pavilion, a six-sided covered area on cement.  Joyce set 7 hides (4 of them on the undersides of picnic tables/benches) and we had 4 minutes to find as many as we could.  Each dog entered from a different side in turn.   We were to hold them in the area, because each side had a hide that would be threshold.  After they found the threshold, then the dog could search wherever they wanted.

Gimme found 5 of the 7.  It was a difficult search for three reasons.  First, there was almost no air movement and yet we were not in an enclosed space - like we are when we search indoors.  Second, the dogs had to find the hides, which were essentially 7 pooling and slowly expanding overlapping circles.  Third, there was a lot of foot traffic going by and some of them were with dogs.  Gimme was most distracted by "ooooh a Dalmatian, can we pet her?".  Being the social butterfly that she is, Gimme kept turning when she heard that "cue".  My classmates were running interference, keeping people from interrupting our search.   Still is was distracting.  The two hides she didn't find in the allotted time were the two nearest the walkway.  My classmates also became adept at explaining, "Yes they are brown spots, its called liver..."  We all ran interference for our two severely dog-reactive classmates.

After our search, I let a toddler pet her.  She had the highest pitch squeal and every time Gimme moved she would squeal.  The first time Gimme gave her the funniest look, like she thought she was clearly aberrant.  After that she ignored the squeals.  She got petted by three more people on the way back to the car.  My little beauty-queen never fails to attract attention.

For the second search, Joyce set up one hide at a time on one of two tables, for a total of three hides.  We were again practicing finding things under tables/benches.  Gimme continues to be good at this.  For one of them, she kept trying to approach from the side, the direction of the tiny breeze, but the bench was in the way.  So bim-bada-boom, she leapt up on top of the table and indicated from there.  Not shy, not my little girl.

The discussion we had was about "detailing".  Apparently the instructors have decided that much detailing is not a good thing - not efficient.  "Efficiency" does seem to be the current buzz/focus.  Joyce said that the instructors are seeing more detailing (i.e. not going direct) when they are unpaired.  She suggested that we each try three box drills paired and three unpaired and see if we see the same thing.  This I will do, but probably not before the weekend.

Gimme is currently sound asleep.  Nosework always zonks her out.

Plan Change

Only a small part of this entry is about a change of plans, but I have to call it something...

This first video is our first session with many tins.  Overall Gimme did about as I expected.  Based on what I've been reading, I was intentionally letting her see me put the scented tin down.  However, in this particular session, I don't think it helped her.  The reason was, I think, my choice of treats.  I was using popcorn and she is just crazy about that stuff.  So I think the possibility of the popcorn was distracting enough that she wasn't focused - especially as compared to previous sessions.  So we won't make that mistake again, though I'll continue to use popcorn for other things.  I like having so many tins, since I don't have the non-rewarding aspect of not taking the tins when she brings them to me.

The second video is the second session today on "pivot" (the camera didn't record the first one).  Based on what I was seeing when I edited this video, I've decided to abandon training the rear pivot ("twist") until I have this on cue.  Then I will also probably go on to teach the forehand pivot in the other direction, which I'll name "tivo".  (chose that name because it uses letters that are in its companion behavior)  The thing I was seeing that got me thinking this way, was her tendency when frustrated or unsure to start putting her back feet on.  In the video there's a fair amount of bouncing back and forth between front and back feet.  Since I'm trying to teach her to use her front feet in a specific way during this behavior, it means I have to withhold clicks for what she may think is a good enough version.  When that happens, I don't want her just throwing some other behavior at me.  After "pivot" is on cue, I'll start on "tivo".  Then later after "tivo" is on cue, I can start the pivots on the rear ("twist" and "twirl).

Of course I hadn't really come to that decision until I did the editing of the pivot video, so I have this short video of the last (for now) session of "twist".  At times I think she is getting the idea and then I don't.  Since the camera angle provides a new perspective, I see two issues.  One, when I do resume training this, I really will have to put up the mirror so I can see that both back feet are on the brick.  Two, I think I also have to do a session or two of just rewarding her putting both back feet on, to get that behavior more solidly.  And three, I've got to do something about the brick sliding all over the place.  I have some scraps rubber shelf liner, so am going to glue that to the back of the brick, as well as some other platforms.  That way they will stay put and when I get this floor refinished, I won't have to worry about it being scratched. 

A confession:  I have had more difficulty with teaching Gimme to refrain from jumping on people than any dog I've ever owned or worked with.  Its clear in watching her that she really does try to be good and stay down, but then people start petting her and its more than she can handle, so she jumps up out of exuberance.  She really loves people, so I don't want to dampen her enthusiasm in teaching her to keep four on the floor.  Add to that the frustrating tendency for people replying to my instructions not to let her jump up with, "oh, its okay".  She's so dang cute that many people really encourage or, at the least, don't discourage her. 

I have friends that have worked with her, following my instructions, and it just doesn't seem to sink in.  This week I decided to try something a little different.  Given how quickly she learned to come to me when she sees bicycles, I'm taking the same tactic with people.  When she sees a person, I call her to me and give her treats until they pass.  Then if interaction is mutually desirable, I'm at least there to reward her when she has all four on the floor. 

What was so incredibly cool was seeing the light bulb go on - flashing brightly - when she realized, see people = go to mom.  The first time you could see the light, she ran up to and around a stranger, then looked at me and came running for goodies.  Then he wanted to pet her and she got lots of treats for four on the floor.  The next person she saw, she went running toward them, then stopped and looked back at me, then came running.  The same thing for the person after that.  My non-dog friend that was walking with me even recognized what she was seeing as Gimme "got it". 

She's such a smarty...  I love seeing her figure things out.

Busy All Day

Gimme and I had a very busy day. After church a bunch of friends came out and had a little petting fest with our girl. As always we had a good time and I'm blessed to have good dog friends that are willing to work with her every week.

From there we drove to Auburn and spent some time at an ASCA agility trial. The first time in the building she got to sit outside the elite ring watching the dogs and eating peanut butter. She did a nice job remaining calm the whole time. She'd watch the dogs and then when they were coming in our direction, she'd turn to me and say "mo peanut butter please".

The novice ring was running when we came in the second time, so we stayed away from the rings and spent a bunch of time getting petted and trained by my agility friends. The big moment was when a family of four came and their daughter asked to pet the Cutest Puppy on the Planet. So I hooked my thumb in her collar and we both petted her. Then her brother joined us in the petting, then dad and then mom. Gimme almost split a seam she was wiggling so much; she was wiggling so hard I worried she might wriggle right out of her skin. She's never experienced nine hands petting her at once and I think it gave her a whole new perspective on the possibilities of people. Of course, she's always loved people, but this took it up to a whole new level. We hung around for awhile and then she got another break in the car.

The third time in the building we couldn't get a good place to sit and watch the other elite class.  The only spot available put us in a direct line with the start and first two jumps. So we moved further back from the rail and that put us on the other side of the aisle. Gimme could see what she needed without the potential of distracting dogs in the ring. We also had the experience of three dogs passing down the aisle and right in front of her. She handled it all very well.

From there I went to my parents' house where we were having a family get together because my Aunt Anita was visiting from Missouri. Before heading home, Gimme got out to sniff, snoop and seriously cramp my nephew's style. Every time he'd move to find a secluded spot for some "quality time" with his girlfriend, in no time Gimme was there. Who knew she could do such a great job as the fun police, though I'm sure she thinks of herself more as the activities director type.  The girlfriend isn't a dog lover, so I think he should dump her anyway.

On the way home we stopped at Home Depot and Gimme got even more petting and some training from the dog savvy employees.  One woman she saw for the first time two weeks ago, who had insisted she sit for treats, was there - Gimme saw her and trotted over and sat right in front of her.  She also got petted from other customers. She's back to not jumping up on people… and instead looks around going, "hey, mo hands, mo puppy petters please". It seems she thinks the function of people in her universe has been altered for the better.

The Project - Day 12

Labor day turned into a labor of aggravation. Gimme was outside and barking incessantly, which is not the norm. Looked outside to discover that a passerby was sitting next to my fence with her fear reactive dog. So I called my dogs in and went out to talk with her. I understand she was trying to use the environment to get her dog used to the barking-dog stimuli, but I really don't need to have Gimme practicing that behavior and besides, she was doing it all wrong. I gave her pointers on how to do it better and a referral to a local trainer that can help her.

Then as I tried to go in the house, discovered Gimme had jumped against the front door from inside the house, slamming it shut. That's the door that can't be opened from outside (yet - still trying to fix it). Naturally I hadn't unlatched the back door. So ended up crawling in the window where I'd installed the window fan last night and hadn't yet put in a jimmy bar to keep it from being burgled. Bought 3 new keys today and set two in hiding outside, keeping one for when I have a house-sitter. That blew an hour in the morning and another hour in the evening. After that I went to work.

When I got home, I did a quick refresher course with Gimme on the eye contact game, planning to use it in our distraction training. I teach it the way Chris Bach teaches it, without a verbal cue to start it, rather your posture and attention to the dog is the cue. I used the eye contact game a lot in Michael’s distraction/anxiety training when he was young. I was thinking that it might work well for Gimme. I taught it to her when she was about three months old, but we didn’t get very far with it. She learned just the basic concept and wasn’t really ready for more. During this refresher, she picked up right where she left off and advanced very quickly. So I figured we were right on track to take it on the road.

Not long after that session my Mom called. The plumbing fix I installed last time I was there has been "broken". She admits she was probably yanking on it. I'm betting it wasn't completely seated. They had to shut the water off cuz it was spilling in the house. So between the 1:15 drive each way and at least 2 hours to do the repair the evening was shot to heck and back.

At least Gimme enjoyed the ride - in particular seeing her Grampy, my dad. We also managed a quick eye contact game session while there.

Enter Tuesday. I briefly went to work for just an hour. Then Gimme and I did the distraction training in two different spots in the Albertson’s parking lot. Using the eye contact game went better and faster than using known behaviors. I continue to use ten treats for check-in to warm her up to her environment and continue for the ten even if she indicates she’s ready to work sooner. I’ve found when I start working before the tenth check-in treat, I don’t seem to have her best attention, she’s not as focused.

After that we headed across town to where my chiropractor is and arrived half an hour before my appointment. So I got the safe place crate out and set in up in the shade of a little tree, with her Dalmatian spotted rug inside. I started with the crate because she seemed to need the additional visual barrier to do the relaxation protocol when I first taught it. I’ve decided to teach her to associate the rug with a place to do relaxation protocol. I’ll use it in the crate and then gradually pull it further out until we don’t need the crate.

Naturally right after we set up, the landscaping crew showed up. So we moved a few feet to the sidewalk and she got lots and lots treats for watching them work with their noisy landscaping tools, sometimes pretty close to us. A couple guys stopped and petted her and commented on how beautiful she is. You wouldn’t believe how many people think she can’t be a Dalmatian because of the "brown" spots. Gimme did really well with the lawn equipment and wasn’t much concerned. After they moved further away, we did a brief session of relaxation protocol, then she went back in the car as I went in for my appointment.

After that we headed out to the fort for our Tuesday walk. Gimme did better there with our getting out of the car routine using the eye contact game than she has in the past using known behaviors. Right as we were doing eye contact, a Blackhawk helicopter came in for a short field landing, passing overhead and about 30 feet to one side. Gimme only glanced at it and then went right back to work. If we ever go to an obedience trial on a helicopter glide path, we’ll be set to win our classes. I’m just saying…

Grape - dead bug (on back, feet in the air)
She made good progress holding herself on her back. I give her one or two to get started, then hold out for the better ones. She continues to offer this when she wants my attention or wants to change the subject. What a goof…

Melon - push cube with nose
We trained this first. It takes Gimme quite awhile to get past her foot interaction, but once she does she quite consistently pushes with her nose. I’m rewarding that with big jackpots and it seems to help. She has built in a down and then low-crawl up to push it with her nose, much of the time. For now I’m ignoring that and hoping it will go away when she is more consistently using her nose earlier in the session, since the down only shows up toward the end of the sessions. I’ll make sure it isn’t part of the iterations that I put a cue on.

Apple - back into a box, back feet only
Orange - get onto a small perch with all four feet
Peach - head under a chair
Not trained today.

Sunny day, Sunday...

After church today, as soon as the service was over I got Gimme out of the car, to take advantage of the people coming out and leaving.  My plan was that she would just have the experience of watching people go by.  Of course, when making that plan I didn't factor in little Miss People-Magnet Gimme.  About half the people that came out had to come and meet her. 

First was Marley and then her brother.  This family are all obsessive animal lovers.  They have so many animal species in their family and I've heard about a number of their adoptees over the years.  Marley was telling me about their latest rescue, a Chihuahua.  Its a little hard to imagine such a tiny dog in their large dog and large critter menagerie, but they always seem to make it work.  Anyway, Gimme's first interaction was with these two experienced kids, so they were very helpful in getting the edge off.

After that was a stream of other friends.  Naturally Gimme wanted to jump up and get in their face, so as quickly as possible I coached them as they were approaching to please take her collar and help her to not jump because "even though you might not care about her jumping on you, children and older people need her to be more polite."  So she got plenty of interactions with people that did not include greeting-by-assault.  Even though she didn't start out with four on the floor under her own power, it ended up that way.  She was getting lots of attention and petting for four on the floor and I was sometimes clicking/treating and other times just treating.

Then as the exodus thinned out, I put her back in the car and went inside to talk to friends who hadn't left yet.  I ran into pastor's wife on the way in and got an update on their rescue schnauzer that she'd called me about on Friday.  He's doing much better and she thanked me profusely for reassuring her during the call.

After I got inside I joined my friends and apologized for rushing away, explaining that I was busy using the church members as training props.  These friends are dog people too and thoroughly understood.  One couple were busy talking about how their police officer son in Texas is so excited about finally getting his canine partner to train after waiting three years (dad is a local cop).  The other couple are dear friends who adopted a breeder return Red Bone Coonhound with major fear and anxiety issues.  I'd spent a lot of time teaching them how to help her overcome her issues and now she is a fabulous, loving and very friendly dog. 

I am so blessed to go to a church with so many animal lovers in the congregation...

When we finished gabbing and headed out, they all had to come see Gimme, since it had been a couple months.  So she got even more interactions, starting with help to get it right and then just (mostly) getting it right on her own.  She's a smart cookie.

After everyone left, Gimme and I went and walked in the a park across the street, logging 2.25 miles.  She remembered her loose leash walking from yesterday and for the most part did really well.  At one point we went by some condos and a pair of Papillions on a second floor balcony were barking at her.  She stopped briefly to look and see where the barking was coming from, got some metronome treats and "whazzat" a few times and then we moved on. 

I noticed, even though she seemed not to pay much attention to the Paps, her loose leash got sloppy after that for awhile.  And she just couldn't seem to wrap her mind around sitting before crossing the street - so I resorted to luring and then copious treats for holding the sit.  So again, she shows her stress not with overt signs, but rather with degrading performance.  Partly I thought it was just that she was tired and it was fairly hot, but as we passed a really shady place where it was cool, she was still intent on pulling.  When we are walking without a leash and its hot, she will run ahead and lay all stretched out in a shady spot, so I thought she would be inclined to lay down there if it was just heat. 

About 90 minutes later we tried a short track on brick, but she didn't do so well.  We've done it when it was hotter than that, so I think she was still mentally fatigued.  Next time we'll do the tracking and then come back to town and find a place for a shorter walk and see if that works better.

After that we came home and watched a western.  This girl just loves anything with cows in it.  She doesn't care that much about horses, except that she sees them as a predictor of cows.  We were watching Lonesome Dove and it also had pigs and goats, which she was verrrrry interested in.  When the chickens were on the screen making noise, she rolled her eyes, sighed and laid her head on the armrest (even though she was sitting straight up). 

And no, I am not going to buy her a cow, a pig or a goat.  Though I would consider getting her one of those cute cowboys!

Getting Past Distraction

Gimme has always shown a tendency to get over-the-top about new and exciting things.  She often has difficulty calming down once she gets excited.   For that reason, the timing for the classes with Ursula was great.  It gave us a perfect environment for helping Gimme learn to resist distraction and to feel calm in distracting settings.  We made a lot of progress, but we still have a lot more work to do.

Based on the issues we had at Sunday's show, I have created a list of upcoming shows and trials for the next three months (not that I think that's all we'll need).  My plan is to attend at least 2 per month and just find that area where Gimme is able to be comfortable.  We'll do relaxation protocol and just hang out.  If need be, we'll start in the parking lot.  We may not get into any of the buildings for awhile.  Its more important that Gimme be mostly calm and able to deal with her environment.  I'll continue at whatever level we find ourselves, until she demonstrates that she can handle more.  I'll know she can handle more when she can consistently perform simple commands in a particular setting.  Such as: touch, sit, down, a few steps of heeling, wait, etc.

Obviously two sessions a month will not be enough to make solid progress.  So in the meantime I am scoping out other local areas of interest to work in.  There's a great walking trail around Capitol Lake (2 miles) parts of which have small parks adjacent to the trail.  There are a lot of sports fields nearby, some at schools and others in parks and recreation.  Olympia is the kind of city that has lots of events, street fairs and farmers' markets, etc.  All of these are good possibilities for training.

Last night we went to the Capitol Lake park and walked and sat.  Over all, Gimme did well.  We saw boys and girls playing soccer, lots of runners and walkers, about a third of them with dogs.  One lady tripped over her dog's leash and that caused some excitement as a white standard poodle came rushing toward us and relatives were diving for her leash.  I didn't want them to meet like that so did my best to avoid the situation and as soon as things were settled I kept tossing treats on the ground until Gimme was calm again. 

I learned a lot watching her posture and how she reacts and what the fine line is between one emotion and another.  She got a lot of treats for just watching dogs coming and going (counter-conditioning) toward calmness. We sat in the grass at one point and just engaged in some serious people watching.  When Gimme got bored, she started offering "grape" (the dead bug) to get more treats out of me.  Next time I decide to try that place, I think I'll go down there about half an hour later when there is less activity so we can practice calmness.

I would have preferred a setting that was a little less exciting, so Gimme could relax more easily.  Runners, walkers, bikers and skateboarders don't get her going -- until they get close then they might be coming to pet her.  The dogs get her pretty keyed up.  I wish the setup was a little different, since there is no real place where we can be on the periphery and stay outside her threshold.  The grassy area is a triangular strip (100' wide at the wide end, which is where the soccer players were) with the path on each side... so with a constant stream of people and dogs, it was a lot to take in.  We'll try it again, but may have to scope out some other places with less stimulation to start with, places where we can train until we are ready for that.

So today I took a different tactic - parking lots.  I serviced one of my stores and when I came out, got Gimme out of the car.  I just stood there in the grass strip and let her take it all in and watched for any little sign of attention.  I didn't use any cues and just waited.  Any time she looked in my direction, I clicked and gave her a treat.  I had counted out ten treats for the checking-in behavior. 

One funny thing that happened while I was waiting to use up our ten check-in treats... a fire engine went by, sirens blaring.  There's a fire station about a mile down the road from my house and they often go by and sing "hello" to Gimme.  We always sing back.  So we sang along this time too.  Gimme is really funny, she always sings the same words, "wooooooooooooooooooh, wooooh ahhhh woo, wooo ahhh rowh", over and over.  I'm sure people watching thought we were nuts, but we were having fun. 

After we finished check-ins I asked her for a few simple behaviors (again having counted out ten treats).  Sit, touch and down were the most successful.  I tried a bit of heel, but she just couldn't focus that well.  So instead I had her sit in front of me facing perpendicular to me.  I'd step sideways and she'd step forward and sit, for which she got a click and treat.  After we used up those ten treats we got in the car and drove away. 

Our drive was very short, just 100 yards to another place in the same parking lot, where we got out to repeat the process.  This time the 10 treats for checking-in went much faster.  Interestingly this time we were able to do single steps of heeling.  This second mini-session went very quickly.  From there we got back in the car for another short drive. 

This time we ended up at Home Depot, about two blocks away.  I'd planned to stay in the same mini-mall parking lot, but the only other grass strips were on the edges, near the roads and that was more distraction than I wanted.  At HD things started out very well and Gimme seemed to be on track with the prior mini-session, but then I noticed I was losing her focus.  It took me a bit to realize she was listening to a dog barking somewhere else in the parking lot.  He was muffled enough that I hadn't noticed him before.  Sometimes he'd sound really muffled and other times more clear, as if someone was opening a door and then closing it again.

Gimme has always been rather sensitive to the sound of a large dog barking.  So I changed gears and started metronome feeding her whenever the dog was barking.  Metronome feeding refers to giving her many treats, but moving your hand away between and then bringing it back for another treat - in a rhythm, much like a metronome. 

After ten treats, I asked her to sit, but got no response.  Sit is a simple behavior that Gimme is very good at and normally responds quickly to, so it makes a good barometer of her mental state.  If its normal speed when I cue for it, then she's fine.  If the sit is slow, she's showing some "concern" about something, but still able to think and respond.  If there is no response when I say "sit", then she is over-threshold and either needs more time to adapt or needs to be moved away.   In this case, based on the whole picture of Gimme, her posture and expression, I was sure she would adapt, so we stayed there.

After another ten treats of metronome feeding, Gimme was then responsive to the sit cue.  Not quite as fast as normal, but not very far off.  After that I counted out another ten treats and we started over with check-ins.  As soon as Gimme realized that was the game we were playing, it went very quickly.  Then I counted out three more treats (less than the prior sessions because I didn't want to push too much after the barking dog thing) and asked for simple behaviors.  From there we got back in the car and drove out to the fort's training areas for our long Tuesday walk.

I decided that from now on, no matter where we go (except when arriving home) when Gimme gets out of the car we will go through the ten for check-ins and ten for simple behaviors pattern.  I'd like it to be a routine Gimme expects - a couple minutes to get adapted to the location and then expect to work.  It took longer to go through here than any of the other sessions because Gimme is so used to getting out of the car there and just going.  Still, once she understood the rules it went really fast.

During our walk we continued the random clicking for being within my comfort zone.  Gimme did well.  On the way out to the turning point we found a large blood stain on the road.  Some critter lost its life there.  I was able to get Gimme to go past it fairly quickly.  Then on our way back she ran well ahead to investigate it.  Since she wasn't paying any attention to me, I used that as an opportunity to hide behind a tree.  It didn't take her very long to realize I'd disappeared and she quickly came running.  As we walked past the crime scene, she paid no attention to the evidence this time.  That hiding thing always gets her attention glued on me. 

So all in all, it was a good day.  Gimme worked hard and really deserved the new toy I'd gotten for her... 

Assumptions...

The very best advice I can give about assuming is "don't".  No matter what you assume, you will surely be wrong far too often.  So what does this have to do with the dogs?

Recently someone I know well suggested I do something with Gimme that I didn't think my puppy was ready for and I said as much.  Later she asked if she could hold Gimme and I handed over my precious baby.  I had no more than turned away to answer questions about liver spotted Dalmatians than she proceeded to do what I had already said no to.  I assumed she meant "hold" as in "I wanna cuddle the cute puppy."  I assumed she understood and would honor my objection.  I was wrong on both assumptions.  Perhaps she assumed that I would be pleasantly surprised to see that Gimme handled the situation better than she assumed I expected -- if that was the case, she was wrong.   I had a number of reasons for not wanting to do what she suggested; she didn't have the full story.  I've written to her about my objections and her response indicates that she had a number of assumptions about what I wanted from the meet and greet experience. 

The point is much larger than this one experience AND its not the only experience.  I described in another blog entry a person who asked if her dogs could meet my puppy.  First she said one of her dogs was "great" with puppies, but would have to get in the puppy's face first.  Obviously I can't assume that people understand dog behavior or that we have the same standard; her dog was not "great" by my way of thinking.  Then she went on to say that she wanted to try out her other unknown dog on my puppy, because she was getting a puppy.  I'm thinking that assuming someone has common sense may not bode well either.

I've had other experiences that made me question assumptions.  You can't assume that people will be careful about their dogs and yours.  We've all had the experience of someone letting their dog get in our dog's face or crowding, or staring down.  Often just running over you and yours in their haste.

Also having played pass the puppy, I was surprised (to say the least) about how rough some are when handling a baby puppy.  Fortunately Gimme has a real strong sense of self and made it clear what she didn't like.  My own father is one of those people who handles puppies roughly, with a little country ear-pulling thrown in.  He flat out adores Gimme - having completely fallen for her spottie dottie charm.  I was able to intervene in these cases, but with a more sensitive puppy, it could have caused lasting distrust.  Gimme adores my father in return and has become accustomed to his ways, but still doesn't accept it from anyone else. 

Lest it appear that I'm completely inept when I comes to sizing people up -- in correspondence with another person (not a novice either) who has a puppy from this same litter, she is experiencing the same thing.    She described people who seemed to have what she called "their own agenda", who ignored her instructions and wishes regarding her puppy.  Similar stories have turned up in conversations with friends .

While attending an Ian Dunbar seminar, my friend played pass the puppy.  This is an environment filled with experienced dog people who presumably are interested in reward based methods.  One of those experienced people allowed this young puppy to eat an earring right off her ear.  C'mon, do we need to do a TSA screening and pat down to make sure people aren't harboring harmful objects?  Again with my earlier comment about assuming people have common sense.  Another person, who presented herself as a reward based trainer, when she got puppy-nibbled, grabbed the puppy by the jaw and shook her.  How nice to have planted in this show puppy's baby brain the idea that some people aren't nice to your mouth.  If that's her idea of reward-based, let's all thank God that she doesn't do what she thinks is punishment, eh. 

It sure doesn't help that one service dog at the same seminar snarled every time the tiny baby Dal got within ten feet of her.  Fortunately there were other people who were appropriate and took exquisite care of this baby and another service dog had a sweet and gentle play session with her.

This time around I haven't experienced (or lately even heard of) these issues with the general public.  I believe it may be that we are much more careful with people that aren't dog people because we assume (correctly) that they probably don't know how to interact with puppies.  Unfortunately we tend to assume (wrongly) things about people in the dog community, and its those assumptions that get us in trouble.  Remember, in the dog community, people have varied backgrounds, experiences, knowledge and training styles.  As such they approach everything from their own perspective, viewing everything through the prism of their own assumptions about right, wrong and appropriate.  When we assume that we're all on the same page - we stand a good chance of being wrong.

I don't want to leave this sounding like I've had one horrid experience after another - most people and most interactions have been delightful and have added positively to my baby's learning base.  The point is all about assumptions - that every experience I preferred to avoid could have been prevented had I (or the other person [or both of us]) not made assumptions. 

Also, not all assumptions led to negative experiences.  I practice with someone who is a steadfast traditional trainer (jerk and pull).  I assumed that he might not be the best choice for Gimme to meet and thus it was not my intention to let them interact.  She had other ideas and took matters into her own paws.  Their meeting was wonderful, she likes him very well and thinks he has a stunning expertise at treat delivery.  So you see how it is about assumptions - nowadays you can't even safely assume that traditional jerk and pull trainers are awful evil spawn who will do dastardly things to your puppy.  What is the world coming to???  <e.g.>

All foolishness aside -- we each need to remember that our puppies are our responsibility, so decisions about them are also ours to make.  No matter how much you think you know someone, your future with your baby is resting in their hands every time you give up control, even for a moment.  Small actions can have big consequences.  Vigilance and being ever ready to step in is essential.  We cannot worry about hurting someone else's feelings or about how we might seem when we intervene or just say no. 

Put succinctly:  My Puppy, My Rules -- and Never Ever Assume Anything...

It's the Little Things

Sometimes it seems like days go by with nothing really done, but when I really think about it to blog it, there is more there than meets the eye.

Yesterday was the day that I go to my store with all the noisy traffic nearby (Wednesday).  Gimme didn't even notice the big trucks on the freeway at first.  As we were finishing our walk and she seemed to need to do some "business", I walked further back and that put us closer to the big trucks.  She didn't act fearful, but from her ears, it was clear she was paying attention to them.  Still its a huge improvement from the week before.  She seems to be paying much less attention to traffic overall.

I planned my day to quit early-ish so I could make it to class, only to get home to a message that class had been cancelled.  So packed the girl back up in the car and we headed to the ranges for an hour long walk.  She did well trudging up some of those steep inclines and a little investigating here and there.  There were lots of bird and small critter sounds in the trees that she would listen to.  The funniest was the big frog croaking up a storm, she clearly thought that was a very odd sound.  Not afraid, just intrigued.

I've noticed when we are out on our off-leash rambles, that she has a tendency to walk behind me, which means I am constantly turning around to see where she is, by which time she's now "in front", which is the new behind.  I've tried click/treat for walking beside me, but it really wasn't changing her behavior.  Also, I know I've done some click/treat for her coming in from behind on a recall to whichever hand I have extended.  So I think she thought she was being rewarded for moving into place beside me and/or was hanging back waiting for the hand.  What I did was to click her for being beside me and slightly ahead, then for treat delivery, tossed it further ahead.  She very quickly figured that out... and we ended the walk with her in sight, just slightly ahead of me.

Today was a day I teach class and she got to come in and play.  I would not really train jumping at this point, since she is still soooo young, but I did guide her over a couple jump bumps.  She just immediately went right over them.  We had another session on the Buja board - which she is certain will earn extra treats if you run at it and use it as a puppy springboard.  Too funny.  And she quickly learned that giant tunnels are every bit as fun as the kitty tunnel she played in with her litter mates.

I spent the afternoon helping entertain 5 year old quadruplets, to keep them out of the house while the movers pack up (while Gimme stayed crated).  As always it was a lot of fun spending time with them and I'm sure going to miss them when they leave in a week for the move to D.C.  Afterward we went to their house and they all had a great time giving her treats.  She wasn't sure what to make of them the first time (about 10 days ago), but this time has decided they are great...  I'd broken up 1 cheese stick into about 40 treats and each kid was given one at a time, so we ended up with this constant stream of treat-wielding kids.  Gimme thinks that is a primo game. 

She decided this time to play with their mini-poodle, Maggie, and within a few minutes was doing the whole paws on the shoulders approach.  She and Maggie are very close to the same size now.  Again she was not too keen on April, a very persistent butt sniffer.  Last time she was rather concerned about April's intentions - this time she just made it clear she was being too too rude. 

Although it isn't the kind of days I would plan, we did more than is immediately evident - chalking up some good new and/or continuing experiences. 

Incidentally, she is growing steadily.  I've been weighing her and she's putting on about half a pound a day.  Though she didn't eat as much today, so she's probably regrouping for another growth spurt.  Naturally, I'm still smitten.

Now I'm Officially Worried

We had such a long work day and she was so cooped up all day.  I did get her a few good walks, but that doesn't go very far to burn off energy.  Then took her over to visit Linda & Ron, more of my non-dog friends, who pronounced her adorable.  She played like a maniac while there - they even sacrificed a sock so she would have something to play with (probably to save Ron's slippers which she repeatedly insisted on "airing out").  Unfortunately, even that hour of play didn't do much to burn off pent up energy.

I was so pleased... I showed her the back door to the fenced yard right when I got there and twice she went to that door (once to the front door where we came in) and went outside to potty.  She'd be 100% potty trained if I was more consistent.  I was just so pleased that she did that in a strange place.  Such a good girl -- all that effort Tana & Bernie went through to keep the puppy environment clean really pays off.

Today we did another session with her yellow mousepad paw targeting in the car.  I even stuck the mousepad up in the door handle, so she had to paw the door, instead of stepping on it.  And she got that handily.  Then I moved it to the back seat area and she didn't see it right away.  But she did see one of those plastic envelopes that you keep papers in to carry them around and it was yellow, about an inch of it was sticking out of my work bag, so she whacked that with her paw.  I was really impressed that she had already clearly picked up on the color, so it wasn't just the shape/look of the mousepad.  I think that is very sophisticated understanding for no more than we've done this (this was only the second session). 

Then to show off her skills, we had another session at Ron/Linda's with her mousepad.  Linda would move the pad while I had her turned toward me getting treats.  And as long as she didn't move it a long way, Gimme found it real quickly.  Toward the end Linda was moving it quite a ways and Gimme was really looking for it and finding it.

And I got Linda to withhold treats and wait for a sit.  It took Gimme several minutes to figure out to give her the first sit, but after that, they were coming very quickly.  And just like she did the first day she learned about sitting for treats before we came home when learned it with me - she would run off and play and do silly girl stuff, then would trot right over, plop her heiney down and say "mo' treats please."

You know I've always said you have to be smarter than a dog to train one - I'm officially starting to worry...

Our Fun Weekend

[these pictures are of Gimme's altercation with the strange dog that lives in the mirror in my parent's motor home]

On this trial weekend Michael did about the same as he always does on Saturdays - not great, but not awful, then usually pulls it together on Sunday.  

However, this Sunday that was not the case.  Instead he bypassed four jumps. Going around the jumps I take as his way of telling me that "he doesn't think he can".  So, hard as it is to do - he is now officially retired from agility.  The salmon poisoning was an unlucky break for us - since that is when he lost so much weight and I wondered if he'd get his strength back with the weight.  I guess the answer is "no".  <sigh> 

 
Several people expressed concern afterward... and were at least nice enough to let me explain that I was aware of what was going on, knew for sure that he wasn't in pain, and was letting Michael make the decision of whether to continue playing or not, which he did.  If he'd been in pain or harming himself, I'd have made the decision for him before now.  Naturally, some other people are so judgmental and make that equally clear.  Sometimes people are such buttheads.

Retiring Michael was not the fun part of the weekend.  I am very thankful that we've already started Rally training (actually have our first novice leg), so we have something to go on with.  Just wish there were a tracking group in this area that we could join.

Gimme was a tremendous hit throughout the weekend and everyone loved her.  I got so many positive comments that I am positively fat headed about it.  I know all puppies are cute (just like I really do know she isn't the first puppy to have it out with their reflection in the mirror [though clearly she is the cutest puppy to do so).  Some puppies are just special and I think Gimme is one of those.  A couple people said as much, and suggested she be in commercials.  All those free treats for being cute meant that her automatic sit for treats had "temporarily" disappeared, though its back now that we are home and she realizes the free ride is over. 

She had a great play session with Aussie, Trey (a delightful guy).  He was totally appropriate and let her set the tone.  He ignored her and was ultra casual and then when she invited play, he let her chase him.  It was verrrry cute. 

On the other hand, I am continually astonished by the stupidity of some people.  Someone I know from trials and before thought well of, was walking by as I was taking Gimme up to the building Sunday.  She asked if her dogs could meet the puppy.  I asked "how good are they with puppies?"  She says, "So-and-so is great, she will bark in her face for a minute, but then she will play nice."  As I'm thinking of how to reply, she continues, "I don't know how this one will react.  I've never had him around a puppy, but I'm getting a puppy in a few days so I need to try him out on another puppy first." 

To say that I was shocked is a huge understatement.  On what planet does she think its a good idea to try her unknown dog out on my tender impressionable puppy for the benefit of her tender impressionable puppy.  I just told her that it wasn't the kind of experience I was looking for right now and moved away.  I kid you not - she seemed to be following me and edging continually closer, so I finally picked Gimme up and put some real distance between us. 

Overall Gimme did great over the weekend.  She did really well with all the changes, spending the night in my parents' motor home and riding in a strange car (we took her to the Halloween party, she stayed crated in the car).  Didn't show any concern about the weird garb of the "witch" that came out to meet her.  She only showed slight "concern" about all the newness when we first went in the building on Saturday.  I was just so proud of her all weekend.  I can finally say that she is completely adjusted.  Doesn't mean she doesn't still object to her circumstances -  she just has to get in the last word.  BTW she also tugged while in the trial building - she's a good tugger overall and I make sure she gets to win often.

I was kind of surprised by how many agility people handle puppies kinda roughly in their "petting".  Oddly a husband and wife who have BCs were the worst.  Gimme is not shy about showing she thinks that is rude.  "Excuse me, I'm the center of the universe and that's not the way you should treat me."

She also watched a good part of the excellent jumpers course and told me she's ready to go in and do that now.  I guess we have to get her a 2 year calendar so she can mark off the days and know when to be ready.

She totally won over my parents who are not dog people and think I'm waaaay beyond weird.  My Dad let Gimme chew and pull on his socks while his feet were still in them.  Then Sunday he was talking about grandson Harrison and said he was just the cutest kid , cuter than any other.  And I asked, "Cuter even than Gimme?"  And Dad said, "I wouldn't want to sound crazy, nothing is that cute."

And to cap it off, Michael and Gimme had a short, no barrier, interaction Sunday morning.  I took her out to pee at the crack of dawn and Michael came with.  After he peed, he came over near her and was kinda close and she moved nearer to him and even touched his tail and he just looked at her calmly.  So I praised him profusely and took him to the car for a cheese stick.

So all in all a good weekend for Gimme, a sad one that Michael is retired though.  I am just so thankful that I have her now to move forward with. 

On Monday, Gimme started learning to do a foot touch on a yellow mousepad.  She picked that up in just 5 click/treats.  Going on to repeat it about fifteen more times, even though I was moving it around and she had to sometimes turn away from me to do it.  She was very deliberate in her foot touches.  I love seeing this, since that is the foundation behavior for our running contacts.  It is sooooo much fun training a canine genius.

Expanding Horizons - hers...

I'm happy to report that Gimme is doing so much better with crating and even allows me to be a few feet away in the house.  In fact I can leave the room to get something and return without her fussing.  When she does fuss, its short lived and relatively low intensity. 

Then again, maybe she is simply plotting her revenge...

I'm also happy to report that I am learning to read her fusses and can tell when its serious "I need to get out of this crate" vs "I want to get out of this crate."  An important distinction if her house training is going to continue its progress.

She has developed a somewhat alarming tendency to boss at her Auntie Meaggi and Uncle Michael and I'm working on getting them to ignore her, we call it "lead by example."  Mostly this happens when she has something special in her crate and they ware watching her, so she bark, bark, barks at them.  Which I interpret as "Nanner nanner, I've got ---- and you don't."  I suspect her bossy forward nature will get her in trouble from time to time.

She keeps me on my hands and knees with my butt in the air a good part of the time.  She is the funniest puppy I ever remember having.  She loves to rip snort around in the house, skidding around the corners and throwing in a tumbling act here and there.  Then she stops and looks back at me to make sure I was appropriately amused.  So, in addition to all her other wonderful qualities - she has a sense of humor.

Gimme stopped traffic on Monday with her beauty and joy d'vive... People were stopping and pointing at how cute she was walking along with me. One family actually pulled their car over and got out to come and meet the cutest puppy on the planet...  And this has happened twice more since then.  She is really a darling and everyone says so -- even without me prompting.

Part of what makes her so darn cute is that she walks so nice on a leash.  Because I take her to work and go out and walk her every 90 minutes or so, she is getting a lot of time on leash and is pretty good.  It only took her one day to learn not to walk between my legs.  Wish I could get a picture, she just trots along beside me with her head up so proud of herself - that's the thing that seems to stop traffic.  It's DAMN cute.

Took Michael to Rally class Monday night and naturally had to take Gimme in the building first (and again afterward).  Everyone thinks she is too cute for words.  And they were all going on and on about her conformation and her natural tuck sits.  No one had ever seen a puppy that did a tuck sit naturally.  She wasn't sure what to make of all the barking dogs as we got out of the car (its at a boarding kennel).  Then when we got in the building, she wasn't too sure about the strange dogs.  One Weim they had there is a real sweetie with puppies and even got on her belly and crawled to try to entice her to come close.  Gimme just did a couple play feints from a distance.  When we went back in after class, she paid no attention to all the barking kennel dogs.  She thinks Chip is wonderful cuz he has so much cheese to share.  And Karin was great cuz she had these BBQd hot dog bits to share.  Even when she's not perfectly enamored with something the first time around, she is always much better the second time.  She has the best bounce back I've ever seen, which I attribute to all the early life experiences Tana planned for these pups.  They just think new stuff is a normal daily occurrence.

On Tuesday Gimme and I visited my friend Laurie at the long term care facility.  I didn't get any pictures of her with Laurie - it was too hard to manage her and get a picture.  But did get a couple pictures with other residents that had to fall in love with her.  I was there almost an hour, only twenty minutes of which was with my friend.  She was completely unfazed by wheelchairs, walkers or canes; I don't think she even noticed them. 

 

Gimme likes attention, but really doesn't want to be handed to people.  She'll put up with it for about a minute, then wants to come back to me, though will stay if I'm right there with a hand on her.  She stayed in Laurie's lap for quite a while that way.  That may change when she is more confident that I'll never abandon her, then she may be more comfortable staying with others.  Of course, when she is larger, she won't really be handed off, per se. 

She got her first and second elevator rides and didn't seem bothered at all by the sensation.  The only thing that seemed to concern her was stepping over the crack to get on the elevator, but she did and got a reward for it.

And I just have to mention that she stopped traffic - yet again.  I was walking back to the car enjoying watching her go after the fall leaves in the grass and a lady pulled over to say what a shame it was that I didn't really enjoy being with my beautiful puppy.  Hah!  I then held her up so she could pet her through the open car window and she went on and on about how beautiful she is.  Clearly an astute grasp of the obvious.

Also on Tuesday Gimme and Meaggi had their first interactions.  Overall it went well.  There were two little snarks and both times, they had just gotten around a corner from me.  The first time I think Gimme was probably being too persistent in her attentions and I suspect Meaggi was establishing boundaries.  The second time they were in the kitchen and I'm betting Meaggi had found (or thought she had found) a tiny morsel of something and Gimme stuck her nose in where it didn't belong.  There wasn't even any slobber on her and she didn't seem to be unduly upset, calming within moments of it being over.  Later on we went outside together and I noticed Gimme showed Meaggi more respect, being close to her but giving her space at the same time.  I'll continue to put them together with supervision from time to time and am sure they'll get along; fortunately Meaggi is measured and appropriate in her responses. 

Yesterday I finally found something that she definitely does NOT like -- big truck noises.  It was unfortunate timing that just as we went outside to get in the car, the dump truck came to take away our trash.  Between the backup horn (loud "booooo booooo booooo"), the rumbling and hissing brakes, Gimme was not happy.  We walked around to the far side of the house to give her some space, but it wasn't her usual bounce back.  Then at my store today, the back where I have to park is about a 100 yards from the freeway and during the day there is a lot of big truck traffic.  She was aware of that and showing she didn't like it.  So we walked all the way up front for our potty walk and took our time coming back and she was much less concerned with them then.  Since I'll be taking her with me on long work days, she will get other exposures to those trucks from a distance, so that should help.  I think the sounds are weird enough, but also you can feel them rumbling through the ground and that likely adds to the effect.  

Gimme got her first grapes the other day.  It was waaaay beyond funny.  She wasn't sure what to do with it and took it in the living room, batted it around the floor and pounced on it.  Bit it a few times and then finally concluded it was dead enough to eat.  She did the same thing with the second one.  Now she just bites through the juggler right away and then eats them.  Am missing the stalk and kill routine.  

Now, I ask you... is there anything more wonderful than living with a fresh new puppy?  Not!

Living on the Puppy Edge

Friday through Sunday

We've been packing in as many new experiences as time and tummy would allow.  Had to back off one day when she had very loose stools, but she recovered quickly.  I think the stress of the move finally caught up with her.  Since then she is back to herself, being the little stinker I love and adore.

On Friday, she went with me all day.  She met lots of new people at TOPS, expanding her fan base by about 20 people.  One woman had carried out some sheets of Styrofoam and sat them down to meet her.  A minute later a breeze caught the sheets and they skittered toward Gimme, who dived under my car to safety.  I was pleased that she came back out within a few seconds, without any coaxing, going right up to bark at the sheets.  She got to walk on several new surfaces while there - including a manhole cover and pea gravel.  She was not phased at all by the huge noisy air exchange unit that turned on just as we walked by - she stopped, looked at it and then walked right up to it to check it out.

After TOPS we went for an off leash romp in a safe area at the back of St. Martin's College athletic fields.  We climbed around together on some dirt piles and I discovered she is part Mountain Goat.  She enjoyed the romp, but I'm certain she thinks the wetness of long morning grass is less than enjoyable.  On the way back toward the car, but before I put her leash on her, I saw a family of three coming toward us.  Gimme was watching them and then all the sudden ran up to the man and was pawing at him to be picked up.  He was about the same size, build, coloring and dressed in clothes that could easily have been Bernie's (her Daddy from Colorado).  I could definitely tell when she realized it wasn't him, she turned and walked away like he'd never been there, then came running to me to be comforted.  Poor little munchkin.

The rest of the day she did well in the car and with my comings and goings.  We went to visit friends that have two nice dogs, but Gimme wasn't sure about that assessment.  April, a very large IG (could pass for a whippet), while gentle is a persistent butt sniffer and Gimme didn't like that at all.  We changed and brought out Maggie, a young mini poodle.  After a few minutes Gimme would play with her, but only if she could do the chasing.  She also met 4 five-year-olds.  Overall she was pretty good with them and they got a good lesson on appropriate handling. 

At first I was a little surprised at Gimme being uncomfortable with dogs, but on thinking about it, it makes sense.  Her interactions with dogs have been mostly Uncle Jordi, who is calm and gentle.  He doesn't follow puppies, they follow him and he only checks butts that are near him.  Then she gets to my house and on a day when her world was already upended learns that not every dog loves her.  I'm sure we'll get it back - she's too confident by nature to be put off for long.

 

In the evening we had a play session and she invented a new game.  I was sitting on the floor barefoot with my legs in a "V".  It wasn't very long before she focused on my toes and bit down hard and got an "ouch" squeal.  She only bit hard two times, before learning to bite softer.  As she would go after a foot, I'd pull it in, hiding the foot under the knee of the other leg.  Then she would turn and go after the other foot, so the first foot slides out so I can put the second one under its knee.  She went back and forth like that, probably 50 times.  She was doing some very cute twist and spin athletics - meanwhile I was getting a lot of knee and thigh exercise that I wasn't aware of -- until the next day.

Later, after we'd stopped the toe game, she was running back and forth as I'd throw her toy and on one trip, as she galumphed by, she reached out and gently bit my big toe, on the run.  Then ran to the toy, turned back at me and just gave me a very self-satisfied eye-twinkling look.  There's no doubt she knew she'd pulled a fast one and was quite proud of herself.  As amused as I was, I was also proud of her for the bite inhibition even while running. 

On Saturday she went with while I taught agility classes and after classes, she played on the Buja board.  She paid no attention to the movement underfoot - any game that has food in it, is fun for her. 

Since this was the day of the loose stools, we went home after a couple quick errands and vegged out watching dumb movies all day.

On Sunday, after church we went here and there, doing errands.  We met friends at Home Depot during another chariot ride.  I could tell she has pretty much bounced back, since she spent the whole time, trying to climb out of her chariot (well except when she was busy getting treats from adoring fans). She was quite interested in seeing other dogs, watching them intently to make sure they didn't misbehave in her store.  When we got outside, she met Henry, a Papillion.  She liked him, since he is calm and not pushy.  She would have played with him but there was no place to do so safely.  She was not as impressed with Gunner, who barked at her.

I'm really impressed by how she reacts to potentially scary stuff.  If she does react with a startle, she bounces right back.  I'll work on getting her some experiences with nice dogs so she can play and have fun.  We have a trial next weekend, so there should be some nice dogs there she can interact with.

First Full Day in the New Home

Gimme continues to find the whole confinement thing a big fat negative.  On a positive note, we had a good night sleep from 11pm to 6:30am.  She might have slept longer, but Meaggi woke her.

My original plan had been to have a short work day today, but I didn't think she was ready for it.  She seems genuinely distressed by any separation. So I changed my plans to give her a day to get more used to it.  Our day has consisted of doing errands for several hours.  Our first stop was an appointment at the vet's for her first check-up and getting-to-know-you cookies.  He pronounced her fine and wonderful.  His vet tech was practically drooling when I told her Gimme had done a tuck sit a few times and had already carried around a metal scent article. 

Gimme then went along for more errands and got in her crate and had to settle down ten times and four chances to wait (alone) while I went in a store for a few minutes.  We got it down to 3-4 minutes of wailing and shrieking (from 20 minutes), before she settles. 

The funny thing is that when she is done objecting, she first has to "kill" a toy, puppy buddy or blanket that is in her crate.  I think, she just feels an overwhelming need to express her frustration before she can give in, with huge theatrics. 

I plan to take her along for the day when I go to work tomorrow, since I can come out to check on her every hour or so, just to give her a treat, some reassurance and/or a chance to potty. 

I needed to go to Home Depot, so she went in, riding in one of the orange chariots.  She is the most incredible people magnet.  In the last 16 hours she has increased her fan base by at least 200 people (and we slept for 7 hours of that).  Anyway, everyone in HD gave her treats.  If someone walks by without making a fuss over her, she looks at them like they are slightly stupid.  We were in there so long that she finally curled up and went to sleep in the cart.

We've yet to have an accident in the house.  She's pretty quick to squat or do her business when I put her in the outdoor expens, since she's figured out that is the fastest way to get out again.  Interestingly during our day's errands, she got out on leash about five times for short walks and if she was going to go, promptly did it when she hit an absorbent surface.  So it was nice to see her potty on lead.

One of the things I did at Home Depot was to pick up a selection of paint chips in different colors.  So we could play the color game.  The funny thing was that I picked one that closely matched her seafoam green collar and she snatched it out of my hand and put teeth marks in it.  I got a clean one for the game. However, when I tried to play the color game with her, she didn't seem focused on it.  She was pretty wild, though she did come back to almost all of the blues and greens.  She also grabbed the yellow once.  We'll wait a couple days and try again.

We also had a play session and it was a total riot.  She would grab the tug, then do this funny rolling flip and was bounding around like a little maniac.  Its a shame I can't capture it on film, its just hysterical.  At one point she went over and pestered Meaggi, who snarked her... so she backed up and taunted her from a distance (Meaggi is tethered and somehow Gimme figured it out). 

Its gonna be fun living with a canine genius.