With work and family things, I haven’t had much time to do any training with Lilly lately, but I wanted to share a behavior and health update from Lilly’s wellness exam this week with our “new” veterinarian.
I’m WAY behind on blog visits and comments because I spent three days earlier this week on the road with a client. I know. It’s shocking. I not only left the house in grown-up clothes, but I got on a plane (several actually) and went away again. Here is what I’ve learned about the pups based on this absence and the BlogPaws one last month.
Lilly and I began our much-overdue 100% togetherness day on Sunday with a visit to Mom’s place (the assisted living facility). Lilly showed improvement in some areas, but … alas … one pretty “scary” thing happened.
In an effort to avoid creating travel-related fear/worry triggers for Lilly, I’m being beyond careful in my BlogPaws planning and packing this week. I do not want Lilly to associate things like suitcases or certain changes in my behavior with me leaving. We know, already, her abilities at pattern recognition.
Last Sunday, Lilly did the Tour du Grandmas, vising first my mom who now lives in an assisted living facility and then Tom’s mom who is home after more than two months away. I ran out the door without my camera. So, sadly, I have no photos or video to show.
When we told the physical therapists working with Tom’s mom about Lilly being able to roll a therapy ball around like a circus dog, they were excited to see it. So, on Monday, we took Lilly down to the residential physical therapy place so that she could visit her Grandma, see some of the residents, and show off. It went really well.
I shot a little video earlier this week of Lilly and Ginko playing chase and jaw wrestling games. For those who know Lilly’s noisy play style and stunted social skills, I’ll ask you to pay attention to how quiet this particular play session is. Ginko does many things to ensure Lilly continues to play, which is very smart and polite of him, I think.
Some days, my brain buzzes with larger, more philosophical sides to dog training. In part, this happens because of items I see in dog world news such as this dog training summit. At some point soon, I may rant a bit on that very topic since I’m not shy about the fact that I’m no fan of “He Who Shall Not Be Named.” But, today, I wanted to share a distinction I think will help.
Last Friday, I accidentally pulled a terrible trick on my sweet Lilly. I rushed around in the morning before an entire day of eldercare efforts, and I didn’t realize what Lilly assumed based on various visual clues until I stepped toward the front door to leave.
Dog training update for fearful border collie. She had a rough day at class last week, but did well during pass the pup games.
