Day Nine -- Wrapping it Up

Jessie thought she would end her stay with a mild hunger strike.

It was a mild hunger strike and the food eventually was eaten. She's just all mad because I didn't plan out the homemade food well enough so, to make it stretch for the last couple of days, there are far too many kibbles in her bowl for her liking. She likes the home cooked food!

Not to worry, she's doesn't hold a grudge. But she must all settled in now because I'm seeing more jumping than I did the first half of the week. She's doing well with her automatic sits for greetings and, of course, loves the attention.

Scout is doing a lot better on her jumping. She still occasionally forgets but corrects herself quickly. She gets lots of pets and praise when she sits calmly next to me while I'm on the couch. What a good girl! It's really important to praise all that nice behavior so that she's more likely to repeat it. That's so much better than running around stealing things and being naughty.

It's amazing how simple little things can really change things around for a dog. Rewarding Scout for her random check ins helps her to be more in tune with you and makes her recalls stronger.

Simple body blocks helped her learn to wait at the door instead of crashing through like she ruled the world.

And when she gets into her resistant mode, refraining from forcing her will go a long way with her. Sometimes, at my house, she was resistant to going outside. Not wanting to have any accidents in the house, I made sure her access to the rest of the house was blocked off.

Waiting her out until she came out on her own will help her to build confidence in me and make her less resistant.

I may treat her for coming to me outside and then let her go back inside right away and wait for her to come back out again. After a while, she was much less resistant to going outside.

She did give signs when she needed to go out which was good, because she is not fully house trained. But you definitely need to be watching for the signs (pacing towards the exit, coming back and checking in with you and then moving towards the exit again). She had to be on a strict schedule here and even then she sometimes would go to the bathroom in the house right in front of me.

Both girls were much more comfortable with the other dogs as the week went on. Jessie never played but she enjoyed hanging around the dogs and sniffing with them.

Scout improved her play skills quite a bit. Even Healey, my older girl, was hanging out with Scout by the end.

All in all, Jessie will be missed here for her sweet, gentle spirit...

And Scout, Scout will be missed for her funny sense of humor and her cute little antics. Time to go home tomorrow girls to see your family.

Day Eight -- Lead Not Force

Jessie worked on her sit for greetings today. Of course, she was a star. She looked at me like, "Yeah, I've got this down. Why are you making me do this?" Actually, she was really happy to comply. She's happy to do anything for a nice little rub on the side, a smile and a "good girl!" Her automatic sits for things are quite as important as Scout's (who thinks she may be Queen of Everything) but it's still good practice. And it's very nice if you don't get the surprise jump on the random guest.

Jessie definitely has different needs and interests than Scout too. She prefers quiet time to herself or with people or to explore around in an environment. Finding time to let Jessie explore the world in her slower, more thoughtful way is just as important as keeping Scout busy.

Scout tends to be a little naughty if she doesn't have something constructive to do. This is another important reason she shouldn't have free reign of the house yet. Any time she's allowed to do something naughty, it reinforces that behavior. Interrupting her when she's thinking about doing something naughty is ideal (rather than reacting after she's done something). But, it's not enough to just keep telling her to stop doing something.

Redirecting her to an appropriate activity and praising her when she is behaving nicely is really, really important. She needs to know what behavior you really like and she needs to be rewarded for it so she will be more likely to repeat it. It's also more about teaching and less about forcing a dog to comply.

Being a leader doesn't mean that you never get to snuggle with your dog. But it does mean setting limits and expectations. Part of Scout's naughty behavior of stealing things happens when she's on the furniture and closer to table tops. It might be better if she's not allowed up on the furniture...at least not without an invitation. You can set rules so that she needs to sit and "ask" to come up on the couch and only be allowed up when you give the ok. This takes some consistency (and monitoring) but that way you still get snuggle time on the couch only now you are there to make sure she's not using the sofa cushions as a chew toy.

Being a leader means that she doesn't get to call the shots. Demanding behavior like pawing at the door needs to be ignored. When she behaves nicely and "asks" to go out by sitting, she can go out if it's appropriate. It seems strict but she will be so much happier when she knows it's not her responsibility to take care of everything. Like the front door...

It's not her responsibility to alert or protect the front door. You can handle anything at the front door. She's done really well in her practice sessions but we got caught off guard today when we heard the doorbell on the TV again. She started barking and I very calmly said "ah ah ah." I don't want to raise my voice or seem tense at all. I don't want her to get the idea that "Oh great, now Mom's barking too...it must be really bad." I give her a chance to pull herself together (I can also throw in a "Scout" or a "Scout come" to get her attention). When she is quiet and focused on me, I can reward her for that eye contact (and silence). If she didn't quiet down, I would put her in a quick time-out. But, in this situation, she did quiet down so I was able to cue her to go to her bed. At that point, I could toss treats on her bed as I went to the door and opened it. Guess what? She's doing MUCH better with her distractions (thanks, Chase, for being a distraction in this practice session). And, note above, we are working on generalizing her "Go to your Bed" cue to other beds.

We're getting ready for our grooming session on Monday. Scout's nails are pretty long and she's not super comfortable with me handling her feet. Today's session just involved getting use to the nail clippers in the same area where we were and a little bit of handling her feet.

I want her to feel comfortable with the nail clippers so I don't mind that she's picked them up and wants to play with them. That's a good thing (as long as she doesn't chew them). Again, no forcing, but teaching and helping her to be more comfortable with the process.

Day Seven -- Wait, I've Got This One...

It's always nice when things start clicking in with the dogs. Scout still jumps on occasion but stops when interrupted. Today I turned my back on her when she jumped on me and she quickly corrected herself without a cue. Good girl! She typically does a sit with one paw in the air. If we were being picky, we would only accept all her paws on the ground.

We can tidy that up later on by only rewarding her when her paws are on the ground (so setting our criteria higher). But right now, I'm willing to accept a sit with her paw in the air as long as those paws are not on me.

After all, she's able to hold it even when someone is trying to distract her (thank you, Brutus).

For Scout's leash reactivity, we're working on skills to help get us out of situations where she may get worked up. Her attention is coming along very nice as are her u-turns. Both very important skills to have when you need to get out of a situation where she is too aroused.

We're working on her rough play as well. In this photo she ambushed Jessie.

Immediately Jessie shows signs that she is not comfortable with her verbal complaints and her ears pinned back.

Just prior to the ambush she had been happily meandering on the deck with the other dogs. Not that her head is held higher and, if Rosario's tail wasn't in the way, you could see that her ears were laying down. Her tail was happily wagging at this point too.

In between training sessions and playtime, Jessie spends some time in my spare room. I let her eat her meals in here too so she can eat in peace.

Because after an ambush by Scout, Jessie actively avoids her and tries to go into the quiet room.

Jessie works on her doorbell and knocking issues and practices her recall and enjoys doing those things. I did, however, discover today that certain people will get her excited enough to jump. She hadn't had any problems with jumping on guests or me since she got her but one guest that came today she really struggled with. Oh Jessie, we're going to have to work on that before you go home...

And here we thought you were just perfect.

Day Six -- I'm Watching You...

Scout is still young and needs monitoring in the house. At her age, if she is doing something naughty and you are not there to interrupt the behavior and redirect her, that naughty behavior gets reinforced. It's almost like giving her a cookie or a piece of cheese every time she does something she's not suppose to. And a girl can only get by on her extreme cuteness for so long...

Ideally, you are able to catch dogs when they are thinking about doing something naughty. It's the easiest time to interrupt the behavior.

A well taught "leave it" or a simple "no" or even a recall can prevent her from stealing something from the table. If she chooses abort her mission to steal the treats, that deserves a whole lot of praise and even a reward. It's a really big deal for a dog to choose to leave something so valuable. It's important to make it worthwhile for them to do so.

Sometimes, though, our timing is off or she ignores a request. At this point, even if she doesn't get the treats on the table, she is still getting rewarded by being able to look to see what is on the table. Clapping your hands and moving towards her while you say "ah ah ah" in a normal tone of voice will prevent her from getting anything off the table and she should get praise when she's doing the appropriate behavior (all feet on the ground) but no treat for that one. So, if you're not there to see her getting on the counter, even if there is nothing for her to take, she is still reinforcing that behavior and she is more likely to do it again in the future.

We got lots of "drop" practice in today because she's finally playing with the toys! It's normal for dogs to feel a little uncomfortable in new environments but it's clear she's feeling comfortable now. So comfortable, in fact, that she's starting to swipe things like paper. She's done really well with her drop and she's come right to me when I called her after she had absconded with something of mine.

Those recalls are coming in handy! Good thing we've been practicing that or I might have lost my laminating pouches.

And look who remembered to sit at the door before being let in without a cue! Good girl Scout!!

Jessie met a new friend today. This is the first dog she's really shown an interest in. I teased her that it was because I finally brought in a dog that was closer to her color. I found it interesting that Brutus was the dog she seemed to like. He's like the other service pups in training here. They are all pretty mellow and for the most part leave the dogs alone except maybe an occasional sniff. But for some reason she really took a shine to him.

With the other dogs she does fine but you can tell it stresses her out a bit. She will periodically to a shake off where her whole body shakes (like a dog would do when she's wet) which is a calming signal and indicates stress. You can also tell by her other body language. She carries her body low, her ears are back, and she leans away from the other dogs. Another really clear indicator that she's not enjoying herself is when Scout is trying to engage her in play and you call Scout off, Jessie moves away from Scout. If she were enjoying herself, she would move towards Scout and try to engage her in play again. And the really clear indicator that she's not fond of Scout's rough play style is that she gets snarly and snapping with her.

So play with other dogs is not a super enjoyable thing for Jessie. That's not uncommon for dogs her age. But what she truly, truly loves is one on one time with people. Suddenly you see her tail up and wagging in a happy manner and her ears are perked up. But mostly what you notice is that she tries to engage you and doesn't try to avoid you likes she does with a dog who is trying to play with her. I'm happy to oblige her. She is a very sweet girl and loads of fun to be around.

Day Five -- The Whole Picture

When you ask Scout to do something, she frequently has that "What's in it for me" look in her eyes. If she thinks that it's perhaps something she really doesn't want to do, she darts away as if to play keep-away. Moving towards would only engage her in this game.

But moving away from her sparks her curiosity. If the movement alone doesn't do it, surely practicing recalls with the other dogs will get her moving towards me ("Hey! All those dogs are getting treats. Where are mine?"). As her recall improves, this game lessens.

Part of what I do to get a really good recall from a dog is to jackpot them when they come to me. But this also has a very useful side effect. It encourages the dog to stay with you instead of running up, grabbing a treat and taking off again.

I can tell she's starting to get the picture. Once she realized my cat was right there, Scout started barking madly, jumping around and play bowing to Mo, the cat. Mo is very use to dogs and doesn't bat an eye at all this ruckus.

And then it happened. I said "Scout, come" and Scout did the most beautiful instant and fast recall off of the cat. Not bad. I tried again from a different room. She was barking like crazy and I called her again. She came through two rooms to find me instantly. Way to go Scout!

Overall, having Scout earn a lot of her resources will help her to be more compliant. She's working on a slight shift in her thinking...the shift that says "Hey, maybe I'm not in charge here."

Jessie, on the other hand, happy to come to you but definitely likes to hold down the fort from her post.

She'll do what she can to navigate around the dogs to get to the people (makes training nice when she is so people focused).

But she's trying to get out of her comfort zone and check out the other dogs. But don't get too close, Jessie...

There are times when Scout doesn't want to be in the mix either. She's showing a little bit of resource guarding around the water bowl so she gets a bowl to herself in an area where the other dogs can't bother her. It can be a little intimidating to have big dogs around when you are not use to it. Even when those big dogs aren't pushy for their resources and will hardly approach the other dogs. But no sense adding to anxiety and we don't get to choose what they get anxious about.

Thankfully there are mandatory naps at this place because we have been BUSY!