On Wednesday, after I was mostly done working for the day, Tom and I walked Ginko over to Katie’s house to pick her up. On Dog-Geek’s advice after our early miscues, we wanted to walk them together back on to our property since their first meeting here didn’t go so well. We’ve gone out on leash to see Katie 5 days in a row now, so Ginko was very excited and pulled the whole way. Here’s how her 2+ hour stay went. …
Yesterday afternoon, we took both Lilly and Ginko along for our ongoing work to see if Lilly’s best friend Katie (the borzoi) might come live here. We’ve reached an interesting point, where I’m less worried about what Ginko might do and more worried about Katie worrying what Ginko might do. Clearly, when I botched their first introduction, Ginko made a distinct impression on Katie. And, it is NOT a good one. …
Sunday’s leash walk with Ginko and Katie went much the same as Saturday’s, except without all the barking. Ginko only barked a couple times when he first saw Katie, then he settled down and walked nicely next to her and even did several heeling passes, where they approached somewhat head-on. Both sat, while the other walked a circle around. Today (Monday), Tom and took turns walking each of them. Here’s how it went for our first solo outing with the dogs since the orginal drama. …
Just back from a side-by-side walk to give Ginko and Katie the chance to spend time together in neutral space. We left Lilly home so that Tom and I could double-team Ginko with treats, attention, control. Katie’s mom walked her. Here’s how it went. …
I’m finally starting to feel somewhat normal again, despite a few stray coughs and sniffles. But, I spent most of this week catching up on work that didn’t get done last week. (A massive house cleaning still awaits.) That means we did nearly no training this week. Instead, here are some observations about Lilly’s reaction to her best dog friend Katie meeting Ginko last week.
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We continued to use public training moments as our proving ground this week. Here’s how our first hike of the season went.
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We had a pretty mellow training week for a number of reasons, but Lilly did have two play dates with her pal Katie. And, in our ongoing study of canine body language, I noticed a few funny things. …
This week Lilly, the intrepid protagonist of our ongoing canine love story, went to a group pet obedience class with our big-picture trainer and mentor in all things relating to living with a fearful dog (Gigi Moss). Lilly and I stopped taking this drop-in class weekly in summer 2008 on advice of our dog behaviorist, who wanted us to do some hard-core behavior modification work instead. But, we’ve made enough progress that we’re picking up a group class once a month as time and temps allow. Suffice it to say, this was …
This week Lilly worked only on leash, unlike recent weeks, because it’s coyote mating season, and we’re seeing much more activity in the valley in recent days. Since more than likely a coyote would ignore us, I might assume Lilly would ignore it too, but I’d rather not take the chance. since even impeccibly trained dog’s like KB’s Labs get tempted. Lilly did, however, encounter some dogs this week — some on purpose, some not. Here’s how it went.
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Lilly somehow suffered what we believe to be a hip injury sometime late Monday. We have no idea how it happened, but suddenly after dinner she could not sit or lay down without crying in pain. And, that’s saying something for my super-tough mountain girl who never whines or yipes. Even after the rattlesnake bite to the lip, she did not cry. So, this week’s update is a mishmash. …
