A new Member of the Family

[Daisy]

The New Term starts, and Eva along with her hoomans, is back in training.

It was hot yesterday and the hall where the class takes place was very warm. OH was looking after GD2 but my friend who looks after Eva sometimes said she'd like to come and see what we're doing. We arrived to find we'd been 'promoted' from the far end of the room to just by the entrance. There was only one dog from the last class there - a long haired GSD. So Eva had a lot of changes to cope with - and for a few minutes she was quite shocked. She kept wanting to go to 'her' corner. But she settled down and coped very well with all the changes. The trainer wisely kept to easy work which she knows well and I was very proud of how she coped with it all.

She's had an interesting time this summer - we've met up with the friends with the similar-looking dog (Pip) several times, including a walk on the beach which made her very excited. One day they also had a guest dog with them - a miniature poodle. Eva was just a little too pushy trying to play with her and the poodle snapped at her. Eva backed off straight away and peace was restored! But Eva had ignored the poodle's first warning - lots of teeth, so she's still not 'reading' other dogs' warning signs properly.

We have some very kind friends who have a 2-acre, fully fenced paddock and they have said we can use this anytime. We take her most days to have a good run round and to do some recall practice. She's doing really well, but there aren't any distractions, so tomorrow we're going there with Pip, the dog, and her mum and dad - followed by lunch in the pub. This will be two firsts for Eva!

A very sad note: the 'Daisy' mentioned in an earlier post has died very suddenly from an aneurysm. She was such a little character and will be missed.

[Plantaholic]

Eva is doing well Daisy, love to hear the stories about her.

[Gemini]

I hope Eva goes from strength to strength in her new term Daisy!

Sad about the other doggie

[Daisy]

Plant and Gem - thank you!

Tonight we took a ball for our romp round the paddock. Eva loved it, but while she will bring a ball back and 'leave' it in the garden, being out and relatively free it was a different matter. She thoroughly enjoyed running round with the ball, lying on it, putting it down to tease us, but bringing it back was out of the question!

[Daisy]

As I mentioned elsewhere, our friends with Pip-the-dog-like Eva over. We had a coffee in the garden and the dogs played fairly well after their initial 'settling down by barking'. We then drove over to the paddock and tried walking both dogs on the lead, but Eva was very excited and pulling a lot. In the end we let them both off their leads and they ran round together, not really playing, but ok. then our friend threw a stick for his dog, but Eva got there first - she runs like a greyhound - and Pip was very upset about losing 'her' stick. There were some teeth and a bit of pushing and shoving, but suddenly there was blood all over both dogs.

When we looked Eva's tongue was bleeding and there was a tiny wound near her eye and Pip had two tiny nicks on the edge of her ear. We worked out the ring holding Pip's ID tag had a bit sticking out and got caught in Eva's mouth - hence the blood.

By the time we got to the pub, both dogs were ok, but it was quite cold and raining, so we left Eva in the car and she fell asleep. I think she was ready for the rest!

[Plantaholic]

No wonder Eva was tired, I am sure she was pleased to stay in the car.

[Daisy]

Plant - she's still tired today! But like a sensible dog, when she's tired she sleeps. I think I could do with being a dog sometimes - ignore everything and just sleep.

[Gemini]

Oh dear - blood everywhere!! Thank goodness there was no serious damage .

Dogs and cats have it right regarding sleep, Daisy

[Daisy]

Today the 'fun' continued. I took Eva for her run in the paddock when the rain stopped about 4 pm. She enjoyed her run round and then decided to play with a stick. She's never bothered with sticks before and I don't want her to get into the habit - it could cause all sorts of problems. I wasn't really sure how to handle it, but decided she had to see the stick as boring, so I totally ignored her. I kept my back to her while she was throwing it around and when she eventually brought the stick to me I turned my back on her again. This happened several times, but eventually she came to me without the stick, so I clicked and rewarded her. She went back to the stick twice more over the next half hour, but eventually lost interest in it. Hopefully she won't bother with sticks again - but I won't hold my breath!

I was just thinking about going home when she went behind the shed where our friend keeps the mower for the paddock. The next thing, I saw her tail wagging away out on the road! I could see other dogs there, too (on a grassy area at the back of the paddock). I called her but of course she ignored me, so I ran down to the gate - at the far end - and along two sides of the paddock to get to her. She was saying 'hello' very nicely to two black labs, and the owners realised she was an escapee and kindly waited while I caught up with them. She did a couple of circles but eventually came back to me and sat for her treat! Little monkey!

So there is some progress - I didn't have to grab hold of her to get her back, even though she didn't respond until I was quite close. Fortunately the two labs were very docile and gentlemanly. But I'm not sure how she got out! She either jumped the fence (eek) or crawled through a very tiny gap where the ground drops away a bit.

It was quite a distance from where she escaped to where I caught up with her - and I realise I'm very unfit. I haven't run that far for ages! Tomorrow I'll make sure OH comes with me.

[Daisy]

After her recent adventures, Eva emerged from training today with her halo shining brightly. OH handled her for the lead work practise and she was very good, concentrating on him rather than getting gooey-eyed over the other dogs.

Then I did the one-to-one session with her. She walked on a loose lead, weaving in and out of a row chairs really well. Then she did it again off lead. So perhaps all our hours in the paddock getting her to follow us are helping a bit. I was so pleased with her today - really good eye contact and very responsive when we wanted her to change direction etc.

[Clover]

Lovely to hear of Eva's progress Daisy.Onwards and upwards all down to your and hubby's hard work and determination.

[Daisy]

Clover - thank you, but to be honest, it's all down to the training methods our fantastic training lady is teaching us. I was at a loss as to how to teach her what she needs to know and all my energy was put into stopping her pulling me over when we were out. Tonight we did 3 laps of the paddock with her on a long loose lead and she walked very well, apart from a couple of times when she went round a tree a different way! LOL Then I let her off and she ran and ran doing her greyhound impersonation. I'd put money on her on a dog track.

[Clover]

All credit to your training lady but without you following through you wouldn't get good results.
It's lovely to see them run like that. Just being happy.

[Gemini]

Eva needs a medal soon I think

[Daisy]

Our recent caravan mini-holiday was the first time we've taken Eva away, and I was a bit worried about how she'd cope. Our friends (with Pip-the-dog-who-looks-like-Eva) arrived the day before and Eva was very, very excited to see Pip. Pip was less delighted so we decided to make sure Eva and Pip didn't get too close to each other. She settled down in the van very well, sleeping in her own bed until one of us got up each morning. We kept her on the lead on the site since her recall is very iffy still. After the first day she learned to stop trying to burrow her way out of the awning and sat nicely while we were sitting in there. On Friday after our friends had left we took her for what turned out to be a really long walk and she behaved very well - until the pheasants appeared. She really wanted to join them, but of course wasn't allowed! So overall, I think she did really well, but the issues we're concerned about are still present - very focussed on other dogs and very excitable around them. There were just a couple of occasions when she ignored passing dogs, and we are pleased for that small bit of progress.

Today it was back to training class. The membership of the group has changed yet again - a Leonberger and a young Beagle and an older Beagle. She was fine and quite relaxed with the older beagle - a dog she hadn't met before, but was quite watchful of the other two. She's met this Leonberger before and ignored him then! Hey ho! One step forward and one back. But we are making progress.