Journey started with her pinch collar last Wednesday at puppy class. Venture and Kipper, who are two other dogs in the program, were born on the same day as Journey and they have had the pinch collar for several weeks now. I hear it does wonders for some dogs. Without using words, just the collar, our trainer tried to get her to sit and lay down. Sitting wasn’t a problem, and then came the “down.” We will have more training with it before it is something we will use regularly.
Which brings us to today….
I was so proud of Journey when I let her out on the deck this afternoon. She laid there enjoying the unseasonably nice weather for quite a while. And then, I spotted it! A squirrel on her side of the fence! I casually walked to the patio door to observe what she would do to that poor squirrel. I did not have much faith in Journey that she would allow it to stroll around her yard without a bark. Boy was I wrong. Journey sat up and stared without a sound. After several minutes of the stare down, the squirrel ran up and tree and Journey laid back down to continue her sun bathing.
After some time outdoors, she came in with muddy paws making puppy prints all over the sunroom carpet and the kitchen floor. I grabbed a bucket of water and she let me soak her feet individually in the bucket until the mud was gone, until next time she goes out. As for the carpet, I am thinking there is no point in cleaning it today. Maybe when spring is over….
So, we won one and lost one today! It’s a learning experience and we are learning a lot everyday!
It's always a pleasure working with newbies, especially soft one's :) I do not give in to temper tantrums, I work through them, which she did just fine with me and you after she figured out it was no big deal. Public outing next week for all of us together so hopefully we will see them all on their best behaviour, bring camera's.
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