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.
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