A new Member of the Family

[MillieB]

Daisy, was in a bit of a rush this morning so misspelt the training collar! It is called the canny collar. You have to get the correct size collar and there is a thin loop which is attached to this. It goes round their muzzle and the two loops are then attached to a lead. If they pull their head is pulled down.
My daughter uses a special harness on her strong young pointer. It stops them striding out apparently and she is finding that useful. I can find out the name of this for you . However, I still think it is best to try to get dogs to walk quietly without these aids. Hope Eva gets the hang of things soon!

[Daisy]

MillieB - many thanks for the update. I'll have a look at the canny collar. The harness we've got is from the Dog-Games Shop (online) and it comes in 3 pieces. Each piece can vary in size so you can get a perfect fit, and you can replace individual parts if necessary. It's really well padded and has 2 D-rings - one on the back and one on the chest which is supposed to reduce pulling, but Eva hasn't read the sales blurb!!! As you say, it's better if you can get the dog to walk quietly on a loose lead. Eva's doing great in the house and garden - it's just in the rest of the world that's the problem.

[Daisy]

Eva is officially in disgrace tonight.

Part of DS2's birthday present from DIL was a day's cookery course which he did on Saturday. He made some delicious herby cheese muffins and gave me 2 to bring home tonight. They were sitting almost on top of my 'Mary Poppins' bag which I left at the bottom of the stairs when I got in. As I was deciding what to make for dinner, I thought I'd incorporate these really yummy smelling treats into the meal. Too late! All that was left was the wrapper and a very guilty looking doggy licking the evidence from her whiskers.

[Gemini]

Oh NAUGHTY Eva!!!

[Plantaholic]

I hope she enjoyed them Daisy

[Daisy]

Plant - I'm sure she did enjoy them - there wasn't a crumb to be seen anywhere!!


Tomorrow is our first day at boot camp! I've made her some dried liver for treats, but perhaps I should just get the recipe for the cheesy-herby muffins!

[Plantaholic]

Good luck with the training, hope she behaves herself

[Daisy]

Well, we've now had 2sessions at boot camp, and the lovely trainer, Pam, says Eva is doing well. There are only 4 dogs in the class and she can totally go at her own pace so she's not getting over-stressed. One of the things she's learning is to focus on us when she's out and she even resisted the trainer showing her a bag of treats last time.

We got her a Gentle Leader head collar and she's quite happy with it and doesn't pull so much.

We're still in a learning curve with her though. Today, I was watering the pots in the back garden with the hose pipe and she had a wonderful time chasing the jets of water round the garden. 😀

[Plantaholic]

our dog used to try to bite the jets

[Gemini]

It sounds as though Eva is doing well Daisy

[Daisy]

Another step forward today, we hope! OH took my car to the garage for a small job which would take about an hour. I was at GDs' all day, so he took Eva with him and took her for a walk along a quiet path by the river. He let her off in a field and the three times he called her she came straight back to him. Admittedly there weren't any distractions but the 'walking away' from her technique seems to be working, backed up with a yummy treat, of course. He then had to go to another garage to get the tracking done and then called in to see DS2 at work and she was very quiet and calm in both places.

Let's hope training tomorrow is another step forward.

[Gemini]

That's wonderful Daisy, you must be proud of Evas progress. I hope she is star pupil today

[Daisy]

Thanks, Gem. She's very much the new girl in the class, although 2 of the other dogs have very deep-seated problems. But the main thing is they're all making progress.

[Daisy]

It's only taken 5 months, but this afternoon I finally got Eva to pose for a photo. Usually when she sees the camera she goes into her mad gallop and won't stand still.

[Gemini]

Hello Eva, nice photo