Weekly Training Update (April 10)

For several weeks now, Lilly has been in a funk. Showing more fear around the house, getting easily upset by somewhat normal things, and just not being her usual self. At first, I blamed it on a split in the big pad on a front foot. Then, there was that week-long tummy upset scenario, after (we assume) she hunted and ate a vole. I wondered if her concern took root in my own energy and mood. I considered the fact that after a long, dry winter we were suddenly mired in a snowy, cold spring. But, now I’m wondering if she is missing her best, best friend Katie (the borzoi) coming over so much. After all, they got to see each other pretty much every day for nearly a month, then not so much … after a) we decided not to adopt Katie and b) Katie got put on restrictions for a wrist injury.

I’ve renewed my commitment to getting her enough outdoor exercise this week (despite the cold and wind), and she does seem a bit happier, less freaky.

And, as we are doing more thinking work with this funny scenting experiment, she definitely perks up.

We did venture over one warmish afternoon to go for a walk with Katie. The girls seemed VERY happy to see each other. In fact, Katie nearly tore my left arm off at one point, which only made me more thankful that Lilly is so good on lead.

It got to be a handful to have all three dogs (Ginko came too). Tom came along to help, but Ginko got a little snarly when Katie (in her excitement) nearly jumped on him. So, I wanted to keep a bit of distance until they both settled down, and the only way to do THAT was to let Lilly walk off leash.

Plus, it freed up a hand to dispense treats.

We were only walking up and down the firehouse driveway (not on the road), so I didn’t have to worry about cars or anything.

And, that good Lilly just stayed right with us. No muss. No fuss. Even when the dog who lives next door to the firehouse came out to bark at us, Lilly did NOT show any signs of taking up the challenge or of feeling upset about it.

Miss Katie comes off orthopedic restrictions next week, so we’ve been invited to grab her for visits whenever. So, we’ll probably start bringing her over for a couple hours a couple times a week, as the weather warms, so that the girls (and Ginko too) can have some extra social time.

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We’ll be doing more scent work in the coming days. I’ll try to get some useful video to show. We had a possible breakthrough last night. We’ll see if it holds again today. If so, I’ll shoot some video to show you.

Have a great weekend. Happy Spring!