So, we’ve had our CD of special dog-calming music (Through a Dog’s Ear: Music to Calm Your Canine Companion) for a couple weeks now. It’s about an hour long, and I often put it on
repeat while I work and the dogs hang out. I think it’s found a happy home in their brains because I can turn it on and see nearly instant results. …
During these not-yet warm, spring-still-winter days, I open the back of my car so that Lilly has access to her crate, if she prefers. It gives her a dry spot, out of the wind, to survey
the valley for a bit while I’m hard at work inside. Until last week, I always thought it was a nice, safe thing to do. …
I have a HUGE play training break-through to report. Last Saturday, Lilly’s new friend Katie (a baby Borzoi) came over to play. It’s only their second meeting, but Lilly actually played
and was SUPER sweet to Katie, with only the tiniest hint of the usual border-collie bossy thing. It felt like a miracle. …
I experimented this week with Lilly’s play training. As I’ve mentioned, she usually does not play in front of other dogs, including Ginko at times. She has, however, learned that some
things simply do not interest him. And, in those cases, she’ll play fetch (or whatever) in front of Ginko. Sticks, for example, allude him. He does not get the point, so if he steals the ball, which
he often does, then Lilly finds a stick to play with instead. To see if I could combine a toy in which Ginko heretofore hasn’t shown interest with Give Me a Break …
Last week, I lamented about Lilly’s penchant for turning into a mean, rotten girl when other dogs get close to her darling daddy. There are certain toys that might cause a similar
reaction in the wrong circumstances, especially if they involve food — like a rawhide or a stuffed kong. But, the other day, Lilly and Ginko enjoyed a bit of chewing fun practically side by side.
Take a look. …
If the dogs are outside when I drive up, I always have to gauge my ability to open the gate, drive in, and close the gate before they reach me. My only hope is if they’re in the back
pasture and don’t hear me at first. Otherwise, getting safely through the gate and up to the house requires a different strategy. …
It snowed again yesterday. Honestly, it feels like a real spring might not come anytime soon here at 8,000 feet. So, I said, “Screw it.” And, the pups and I made a 3-headed sofa monster
and dozed on and off most of the morning. We made quite a sight. …
This week’s class was at a new dog park that’s pretty far north. Due to the holiday, the group was likely small, but we stayed away. That particular dog park isn’t one of Lilly’s best
locations. We often end up working outside the pen on a somewhat busy perimeter path. And, it’s a pretty long drive to simply stand on the sidelines and play Look Puppies, where Lilly gets rewarded
for calmly being near and watching dogs (some of whom are wild). …
Once we got past her various medical issues, I took Lilly through her initial obedience class in spring 2005. Since then, of course, we’ve been through a bunch of other classes
for agility, rally and all-around pet dog training. With our previous dogs, Tom and I usually took that first (and only) round of training classes together. That hasn’t been the case with Lilly.
That spring Tom worked a lot. He spent several nights per week and many weekends in training. So, I went it alone, and that became the norm. Fine … really. Except now …
Saturday afternoon winds kept me indoors when Lilly and I returned from our usual round of errands and in-town walk. It was warm, enough, however for the pups to poke around outside
alone. I left the tailgate down and Lilly’s crate open since she enjoys sitting up high and watching the world go by in our little valley. Just before dinnertime, Ginko came to the door and asked to
come in, but he was alone. I assumed Lilly slept happily in her crate. I was wrong. …
