Super stressful week. Not much time to work with Lilly. Still need to find people to do the 13 tasks in the training protocol, BUT, here’s some insight into her experience and reactions to a family gathering last Saturday.
Lilly Loose During a Family Party at Home
After keeping her crated while we ate, I let Lilly visit with 4 family members who came over last Saturday. She barked 2-3 times when she saw them all in our living room, but I fed her treats, and she settled down.
She seemed so happy and relaxed that I had her do a few tricks, including having everyone watch her do a little agility outside. Yes, yes, yes … that’s totally against the rules, but it’s been a LONG 3 months of NOT letting Lilly shine or interact with people.
Then, she played fetch with Tom’s brother and our 10-year-old niece. It’s like I didn’t even exist. She was fully and happily engaged with them.
When weather drove us indoors again, Lilly continued to play with our niece for a couple straight hours. I wasn’t too worried, even though Lilly doesn’t spend much time around kids, since our niece is certainly old enough not to be erratic (like little kids are) and she’s super smart, so she totally gets what we’ve been working on with Lilly.
Still, I kept my eye on them and noticed some really cute things:
1. Lilly play-bowed a lot to our niece. Others speculated that it was because she was sitting on the floor, but I’m not so sure. I sit on the floor or ground a lot to play with Lilly, and I don’t think she bows THAT much to me.
2. Even if Lilly wanted to rest (seriously … that’s a LOT of playing), she accepted every invitation to play again. She’s very good at giving the ball back no matter what (as long as other dogs aren’t around), so our niece took it back without any problem (even out of her mouth). Lilly was happy to oblige.
3. She also did tricks like SHAKE or HIGH-FIVE for our niece and took food from her without showing fear.
A couple times, our niece did put her face right near Lilly’s, and I could tell Lilly was a bit nervous, but she did not react badly. She seemed to take it all in context.
Our niece has a new dog, also adopted from the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. Her name is Bella, and she’s an amazing girl. I’m guessing she’s German shepherd crossed with yellow Lab, but who knows?
I loaned our niece a clicker, a basic clicker book, and a copy of Dog Tricks for Dummies. A few weeks ago, she expressed interest in agility and dog training, so I’m hoping that spending time with Lilly and seeing how hilarious it can be to have a well-trained dog will inspire her.
I sure wish I’d learned all this as a kid. Imagine what I could have accomplished.
The Verdict
It’s probably been at least a year or more since these family members have seen Lilly at home. And, Tom’s brother said she seems “like a completely different dog,” so the medicines and the hard work must be paying off … even if I cannot see the tiny improvements since I’m with Lilly all the time.
It must be hard to see Lilly’s progress when you’re right there every minute–sounds like a good sign that the family members who hadn’t seen her in a long time saw a positive difference in her. And for her to be so up and so good after the stressful time you have all had lately seems to indicate some serious resilience in her.
And as for her party behavior? Dinah and Crispin have no real issues beyond being a little spoiled, and I’m telling you–60 pound Dinah would have been trying to sit in all the laps and whining for pats on the head and crazy Crispin would have eaten ALL the food. Lilly’s behavior sounds like it would have impressed Miss Manners. It certainly impresses me!