A Year Later

What a year it has been!  We thank our blessing every day that Daq (aka Weekers) is part of our family.  She has blossomed into a wonderful dog.  If one of you met her you may not agree but to our family she is perfect, she just chooses not to share herself with others.  We have not hit perfection socially yet but that is completely my fault.  I am not social creature myself which could be the main reason she has fit in so well here.  

Daq's personality has just shined while she has been here.  She was all serious business for about the first six months.  Then one day my husband was messing around with Daq.  Miss Daq got this look in her eye, a look that I cherish about aussies and have not seen in years.  She was being all flirty with him.  She started doing zoomies thru the house while keeping that look on her face...this brought tears to my eyes.  She has been everything and more that I wanted in an aussie. 

Since we got Daq I have had some major changes go on around here and I have not had as much time to work with her.  We had one set-back this past year that brought forth all kinds of emotions.....discouraged, mad at myself for letting it happen, mad at the person for being so stupid, etc.  To make a really long story short.....a person acted inappropriately to her while she was in protect mode while waiting in the van. 

She loves her frisbees now and thoroughly enjoys a game of T&F.  There is a short video of her playing on my Youtube account.  I am not convinced that she will ever hit the competition field but I do have hope that someday she will.  We have practiced in the yard with a brand new person leaning on the fence.  She played and completely ignored him!  After the last throw she did feel the need to bark at him.  I went over, pushed her about 2 feet away and put her in a sit-stay.  She did it!!  She sat there so nice and quiet until I released her and told her to go play (which she did). 
 
I took her to her first competition just for her to observe the atmosphere since there is so much going on.  I had hesitated taking her because I did not want to overwhelm her but it turned out better than I could have ever hoped for.  Here is the update that I had sent to Kristin telling her about our day and it also tells a lot about her personality.....

We arrived at about 8:30.  While everyone was out on the field with their disc warming up I decided it was a good time to patrol the area with Daq.  We walked about 40 yards away from the field.  We ran thru our tricks then I just let her observe from there.  We slowly walked back with me praising her for watching but not reacting.  I would remind her now and then that we were having a “party”.  Party is her key work to know that every thing is safe, upbeat and fun.  So we got back and stopped right at the start line, people were about 15 feet away.  She would start to react at which time I would put her in a sit stay and she would just watch.  We ended that before a cycle of barking could start.  I got her all set up in the van   At first she barked a couple times at people walking by but within that first hour she quickly got over that.  She was fine with anyone standing near the van unless she heard my voice.  I know she is super protective of me but more and more I see her understanding that I will protect her and let her know if I need help with protection.  As the day progressed she stopped reacting to a new person when she heard me.  If I was standing there and someone walked over to chit-chat she sometimes reacted but l would tell her to knock it off, that it was OK, she would immediately calm.  

We had plenty of room to observe at a far.  By early afternoon she was no different than the happy go lucky girl we have here at home.  We started one of our walks, crossed the little access road and no sooner than we hit the grass she was wanting some lovin’ time.  She was dancing her Daq dance that she always does upon my return home from work.  That is the point where she actually rolled over to get her belly rubs, well her version of belly rubs which is wiggling all over the place while on her back, pushing off me with her back legs, crunching her belly muscles to try to tag my hand with her mouth....she never actually latches on but has loads of fun while she is being super silly.  Her and I jogged the field a little then picked a spot to sit.  I just sat down and let her do as she chose.  She sat beside me just watching the action going on over at the field.  She never once reacted on this walk!  We headed back to the van.  There was a lady that had parked her chair and two dogs about 10 feet from the door of the van.  We took that opportunity to learn a tiny lesson.  I knew that she would react to that but how close before she did was unknown to me.  She waited until we were all the way to the door of the van before she reacted but upon my quiet command of “ahh, go crate”  she turned around and quietly jumped in the van and relaxed.  She remembers everything and I think that from that one lesson she will know that she does not need to react.  

The last big event of the day for her....the comp was over and my good friend Tracy and I were saying our goodbyes.  Tracy sat down on the edge of the van with her back to Daq.  Daq barked a couple times but not anything reactive.  About 2 minutes after Tracy sat down, Daq decided she would just lay down which surprised me that she got so relaxed.  So at that point Tracy scooted her back all the way against the crate.  Daq just remained laying down like “well OK”.  Tracy said, without looking at her, what if I put my hand here, Daq stood up to look at her hand, gave a tiny bark but just stood there.  Tracy then pulled a ball out of her pocket, started tossing it up and catching it which really got Daq’s attention.  By the end of this session Daq was completely at ease with Tracy.  Tracy had stood back up, standing at an away angle from Daq.  Miss Show Off turned her empty water bowl upside down and then stood on it with both front paws.  Tracy started cracking up laughing and Daq knew she was just too cute at that point!  She looked like a circus dog on a small barrel.

It was the very next day that we had an incident that I was thankful for but hope never happens again.  I had been wanting to set up a "test" scenario like this but there is really no way of doing it.  Well thanks to my little one we got to test out what we had been working on for 10 months.  Here is another update that I had sent Kristin...

I had just put Daq in the back yard. I hear her protective bark. I open the back door to listen thinking someone was in the driveway. I quickly realize her bark is getting farther away and coming from the front yard (stinkin' kid left the gate open and got his butt reamed for it). I take of running like a bat out of hell and call her by name, picturing in my head her getting to the kids two houses up. I round the corner to see her headed back my direction but she had stopped to look back at the walking bikers she had been barking at.  At this point she was still a good 20+ feet away from me. I stopped running and gave her a "Daiquiri come here NOW!". She came running back as fast as she could!! Since I had not seen what happened while she was in the front, I asked the bikers if she got to them and they said "No she was fine". All this time I did not have a hold of her and no lead, she was choosing on her own to leave them alone and hang with me, I like to think because I told her to. 

Well not much else to report on.  She is just a dream for us.  I have tried to get some newer pictures of her but to no avail.  She will not, under any circumstance, look at the camera.  I get the camera out and she will do every command I give her except "look".  I can even just say her name and she still looks away.  I have put the camera to my side, said "look" and she will but as soon as I bring the camera back up she looks away again.  She can be such a little turkey sometimes.  Here is a couple of examples of our misses on pictures right after fetching a soccer ball....

Can you see her Mom in her just a tiny bit in this one??...lol.

 

After we went back inside I tricked her into this one with my phone but the lighting was not good...
 

Here are the two new Youtube videos that I have added in the past year.  Sorry the one of her swimming is sideways...as you will be able to hear there were people very close swimming in the water.  We had the long line on her since majority were kids but she completely ignored them while swimming...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp_G5xDSp04 


Here T&F which has improved even more sine this video in the spring...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHQ5V8i4wB0&feature=related

We are so proud of our girl!!  Even my husband who has never really been interested in any of my dogs has fallen head over heals for Daq.  It may have a little to do with the way she flirts with him all the time.  


Thanks to all of you that have cared about Daq, have touched her life in some way or have followed her story.  Until next time.....

This Blog is about over....

When I started this blog I thought there would be a lot to blog about on our journey with Daiquiri.  As it turns out she is not the project that I thought she would be.  On the contrary she is rather easy to live with.  She has been here for just over nine weeks now.  In those weeks I did not "fix" her, I am not a miracle trainer as all of you know training takes lots of time and 9 weeks is not even close to enough time to do much in.  I attribute a lot of what she has become to three things....

1.  Our family is full of strong leaders, ones that Daiquiri can respect.
2.  She has grown up a lot just with time alone.  
3.  We accept her for who she is and do not try to change what is in her, just manage it.

She has learned more self control which I think has come with age.  She thinks before she reacts now and even has a nice call off.  She is just doing as her instincts tell her....to protect her family and home.  She is still working to perfect on how to do that but I know she will get it in no time as I see it with this new self control.  

She is doing great at living peacefully with another dog.  We have only had one fight in which her call off went completely away.  I learned a great deal from the fight which gave me the tools to understand her even more.  I can see when the girls need a break from each other.  When Ariel has had enough of Daiquiri's puppy tactics and when Ariel's challenge gets under Daiquiri's skin.  We let them cool off apart for a bit then all is back to normal.  Daiquiri has already taken on the lead dog role.  Ariel knows it and accepts it without much of a fuss.  Ariel acts more of the nurturing role with Daiquiri.  Just this morning Ariel was back to trying to teach Daiquiri how to share a toy in a fun way.  It was so cool to watch them interact and see Daiquiri getting it.  I am so blessed to have such a patient dog as Ariel.  She plays a huge role helping me show new dogs how things can work peacefully (she was raised with a bunch of fosters that always needed a little help in one area or another).  

I was going to list some of the little things that I cherish about her but that could turn into a book because she is so close to perfect in our family. So just to list a couple...I love how in the morning when she hears me stir she lets out her "get up" grunt and when I tell her not yet the big huge sigh she lets out as she lays back down.  I love the way she patiently waits for my oldest to climb all the way down from his bed so she does not make him fall before tackling him for loves.  I love how she will come up from behind to nudge me as if to say "hey take a love break there."  I love to watch her entertain herself with a toy, especially a ball.  She will roll it so it hits the wall to come back to her...playing fetch all by herself.  I love to watch her interact with the boys, she knows they are hers.  And most of all I love the way that she looks at each one of us like we are the light making her world shine.  


So not really much to blog about at this time.  I am headed to watch a lady work her BC herding.  I know that it is totally different than an Aussie but I am told the lady that she works with also does Aussies.  I am going so that I can talk with the lady for myself to get a feel if I think she knows Aussie (of coarse I will have to come home and e-mail Kristin to actually know if she does).  Until we start that or get to the point we start competing in frisbee there is not enough publicly interesting stuff to talk about.  I am sure I will put an update on here from time to time.  


Lets end this last one with some pictures....

 I love this one.  It cracks me up every time she pants hard!!

See she can lay with Ariel while Ariel chews the toy that she wants.  It took a bit to get to this point but finally SUCCESS!!

I am sure many of you saw this one on Kristin's blog but my all time favorite!!

As usual she does whatever the boys do!!


Of coarse the boys love this short video.  She did this over and over with the biggest grin on her face.  When it was time to go in she stood by one of the leaf piles with the smashed ball in her mouth hoping for one last toss!!!

Last I want to thank Kristin once again for choosing our family for Daiquiri.  We know that she was taking a chance flying her all the way here.  No one could ask for more dedication and faith than Kristin gave to this puppy!!  We are also thankful for the immediate trust and faith she had in our family.  Daiquiri is definitely where she is meant to be. 

Until another time..........

Hike by the river

The weather is finally cooling off so it is time once again for our weekend hikes!!  Daiquiri thoroughly enjoys the hikes (thanks breeder Mom!!).  No terrain phases her.  She likes to lead the way but makes frequent stops to make sure the family is all together.  This was the first time we had taken Daiquiri down to the river.  She had an absolute blast!!  She could not stay out of the water for more than a couple minutes!!  The down side was that I am not used to having a dog that likes water so we failed to bring a long line to give her more room the get out into the water (I am sure eventually we will not need a line at all).  She was able to actually swim in one small area close shore.  My husband's take on our family hike..."Finally we have a dog that enjoys things we do!".   Here are a few pictures at one of our stops....

Stepping in because she just could not stay out!

 
Just to the right of this is where she could actually get out far enough to swim for a bit.

"Are you taking pictures of me?"

We were just enjoying the view.  And of coarse she had to stand in the river :-)

 "The killer shake"


After the hike we took the kids to the nearby playground.  Daiquiri and I sat on the bench on the edge of the playground to watch.  She was such a good girl sitting there taking it all in.  She really enjoyed watching all the kids run around.  We were even talking to a lady that was there with her kids.  The only thing Daiquiri did not like was when the woman decided to face us direct on and take a couple steps toward us.  I immediately pulled her off the bench to put her in a sit stay a couple feet back.  SCORE!!!  She sat there nicely while we finished our conversation!!  All this with no gentle leader!!  Daiquiri gets things so easily!!

On another note.  I am really happy to report that Daiquiri has earned the rights to be with Ariel on a constant basis.  We have slowly worked up to this, adding more time each day/week as part of our training.  Daiquiri will have been here for 6 weeks on Tuesday and so far no fights!!  We had an "almost" fight but I was able to quickly dissolve it before it started.  I am very fortunate that Daiquiri and Ariel actually compliment each other.  They are very respectful to one another and seem to be a perfect match in every way.  It helps that they listen too!

Daiquiri Playing Soccer

Three short videos of Daiquiri playing.  I apologize for "ready" over and over...it gets rather annoying so you may want to turn your volume off!  We recently had to change soccer balls so she still struggles to pick the new one up.  

This first one is Daiquiri's version of a full retrieve.  Pretty good but she still veers one way or the other to see if she can get away with chewing on it for a while.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAKG31-s-Lc&feature=player_embedded

I like how this one shows her back up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmIgEdS-YU&playnext=1&videos=wESA_6NnGOU&feature=mfu_in_order

This one is the reaction I get before the first ball is kicked.  I love her exuberance!!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf3mu6cLcx8&playnext=1&videos=E2KdQeAwtEY&feature=mfu_in_order

Making the Right Choices

Daiquiri is getting very good at this.  When she first arrived she always made the choice to ignore me when she went into defend mode.  But now when I call her off she always makes the choice to come to my side.  She used to always make the decision to defend but now she chooses to remain calm majority of the time.  She almost made the right decision to not bark at the neighbor kids today when they were running but as soon as I reminded her she calmed immediately back down.  She does choose to remain calm more times than not now.

When Daiquiri met the first person outside of our family she did much better than I had expected.  It was even a tough situation for her.  I had her put away before the company arrived but little did I know when I went to get her they had followed me and were just on the other side of the door.  So when we opened the door it surprised both of us. She charged and barked but when I called her off she came back to me.  At that point she decided it was safe to just sniff to check him out.  I was really proud of the little girl!!  I did not see fear but her guardian instincts come on strong.  I have a dog that reacts out of fear and Daiquiri's posture has no fear present.  She is still learning control of those instincts but I could not ask for more.   Daiquiri is just an Aussie doing her job a little over the top.  Exactly what I wanted :-)

Daiquiri also came to me with resource and space guarding issues.  We worked really hard to nip the space issues in the bud from day 2 so this has really not been an issue here.  I can see it is still in her thoughts but again she chooses to behave.  Daiquiri does not get nasty when Ariel is getting her loves, mostly just stays back.  However every now and again she will squeeze herself between Ariel and myself.  I give her credit though because she seems to know when I will be OK with it and never gets nasty toward Ariel for staying there.  She is learning that I do have more than one hand to give love with!

At our house all toys are mine and I rule them at all times.  We also have a rule that we buy no single toy, meaning if I buy a Nylabone I buy three never just one, always one for each dog (same goes for tennis balls, stuffed animals, etc.) so that each can have their own at the same time.  Of coarse toys get lost outside and under things so there are times there may only be one laying around.  Rodeo and Ariel both know they are not to take a toy away from another dog.  They know the consequence if they try - they all lose the privilege of playing with or chewing on my toy.  They can sit there and watch the other one but better not take it away.  It only took Rodeo about two weeks to get this when he arrived so I knew it would be much easier with Daiquiri.  To this point we have not really had a chance for learning in this area as it has not come up.  But today with the new Nylabones she was certain she needed Ariel's along with the other two.  Of coarse Ariel let her have it but I intervened, took it away from Daiquiri, gave it back to Ariel and handed Daiquiri a different one.   Still yet Daiquiri did not want hers, she wanted Ariel's but again Daiquiri made the right choice!!!!  She did not chew on hers but chose to lay there and watch Ariel.   She got up a couple times looking intent on getting that bone but each time she made the choice to lay back down by her bone without me having to remind her.  I was VERY proud of her!!!  She gets things so easily!!!  

I know taking the toys away from all of them for one's behavior seems harsh but it has really worked for me.  The ones who already know how the system works only have to suffer thru the new one messing up a couple times before there is an understanding among all of them.  We do not have fights around here over toys, I just won't tolerate it.  Rodeo used to get a toy to take on the couch then sit and growl at Ariel if she came within two feet. It was amazing how quickly he understood that he lost the toy the instant he did that.  No dog likes to lose their entertainment like that!!  I do not mind if they share a toy nicely so long as no one ends up guarding the toy or being a bully over it.  Disclaimer:  I do not push it with high value items like their food or pork raw hides :-)  


Overall I could not be happier with Daiquiri.  She is just so much fun.  She has quickly stolen my heart.  I can see how bonded she is to me now.  She makes me laugh on a daily basis with her silly tactics.  I love to watch her interact with my sons.  She knows to be gentle with them.  Her frisbee training is coming along.  I see improvement each time but we still need to pull some drive out.  It is in there but not quite as intense as I need it to be.  I know it's there because I see glimpses of it.  Once we get that to come out all the time it will be on!!  In the off chance she decides frisbee is not for her no big deal we will just have to find something she loves.  Maybe freestyle dance or herding.  

One fun story...the girl makes me laugh daily.  Daiquiri likes to steal wash clothes out of the bath room to bring in the family room to toss around.  So  here she come with one shaking it back and forth to kill it.  As she did this it flew out of her mouth and hit the couch where a beam of sun light was hitting.  The wash cloth had knocked a single dog hair into the beam of light.  She saw it, gave it the eye then "grrrr....",  snap and caught the darn hair.  Then it was back to silly fun with the wash cloth. I laughed so hard at her :-)

Disc training and other

We decided to get back into some disc training.  We have just been working on full retrieves with the only toy that she would bring all the way back which was a soccer ball.  If Daiquiri would find a Frisbee somewhere she would pick it up and look at me like "please play this with me".  So after a couple days of her wanting it we went back to working on it. 

This time we took two discs out with us in hopes of using one as a lure to get her all the way back to me.  We had tried to use a long line in previous sessions to help with her retrieve but when I would go to pull her back she would drop the disc as if she were in trouble.  I would much prefer her to view all things fun with frisbee.  One disc was a regular hard plastic and the other was a SofFlite (a little softer plastic).  Miss Daiquiri decided right away she did not like the softer disc.  She would play with it but much preferred the regular disc.    So this time we started with short tosses within just a few feet because I knew she could be successful at those and still be in reach to get the disc back.  She was doing rather well with this so we moved to some longer throws.  I am super happy to report that she can consistently catch 20 yard throws with ease.  She is such a natural.  Her return needs lots of work as it is super slow right now.  I know with time we will get there though. 


At this point we were still struggling with the hand off.  She returns all the way but turns to the right just before getting to me.  So after only a small handful of those I decided to bring it back in close for some baby freestyle stuff.  That girl is CRAZY!!!  She LOVES close up work with a passion.  While I was holding the discs up high so she could not grab them she was leaping up to my head then trying reverse chest vaults (more like reverse stomach vaults) off of me.  She was not understanding when I told her she was not old enough for all that jumping so I decided it best to just sit on the ground for her safety.  I did not want to correct her for all that jumping as it would make it much harder to teach when we are ready.  We started baby "overs" with my legs flat on the ground.  It was game on for Daiquiri!!  To this point she has never been so intense on playing frisbee.  She stayed right with me, dropping one disc in preparation for another.  She has the most beautiful tucks when she jumps.  I had gotten to see them when she would jump up on the deck or couch but she even does it when she baby jumps during play.  Once she is old enough she will fly thru the air ever so gracefully!!  


With Daiquiri's disc training I am having to dig deep into my training techniques.  It has been such a long time since I have had to start from scratch.  Ariel was such a complete natural in every area from over the top, intense drive to full retrieves to catches.  With Ariel we just flowed onto each stage of training.  Daiquiri is taking me back almost 7 years ago when I started with my first dog.  I appreciate that as it really signals to me the great control that she will have as a disc dog.  Ariel is so crazy that we struggle because of it.  At four she is just now starting to calm enough that we may actually start being competitive at the level that we have to compete. It will be at least another 18 months before I start competing with Daiquiri in freestyle and boy I can not wait!!!


In other areas we are doing so good I could not be happier.  She does not go into automatic defend mode anymore.  Her focus on what we are doing is starting to override her previous need to see everything that is going on around her.  I think she is gaining so much trust in her family she is not feeling the need to be a protector every minute of the day.  The other day my 4 year old and Daiquiri had stepped outside together.  I was on my way out with them but by the time I got there (no more than 30 second later) they were headed back in.  I asked my 4 year old why and he told me that Daiquiri was barking at the men working next door so he told her to stop and come back inside.  It really cracked me up that she had actually listened to him!!


Ariel and Daiquiri are starting to "dance".  It is the funniest thing to watch.  They both get their hackles up and just jump around each other, never touching in an effort that neither lets the other behind them.  Ariel usually ends it by just walking away, ignoring Daiquiri.  If they do it close to me I stop them and to my surprise Daiquiri already calls off with ease.  Daiquiri likes to give Ariel the stink eye but she is not getting anything out of Ariel with it beside being ignored.  At this point I see Daiquiri being on top of my little pack as she matures with no problems.  Ariel is the alpha bitch here only by default, she really does not have it in her.  I really think they will get along with no problems in the future either.


Daiquiri thinks the sun rises and sets on my oldest son.  She can not wait for him to return from school.  She is not too fond of the rocking recliner yet when he is in it she willingly jumps up to sit with him.  He was sick over the weekend and she became the nurturer.  She gently climbed into the chair with him to give him the sweetest of kisses.  It was as if she knew she had to be gentle.  He told me the next day just how much better she made him feel.  I see an ever lasting bond being created there.  Daiquiri will be the dog that will pierce his heart for the first time.  He loved Tess very much but I can see something even more special between these two.  


Well I do guess I need to post more often in effort to not write a book.  Sorry no pics or video this time.  I am hoping to get some of her playing soccer with me.  She will back halfway across the yard on command.  It is so cute!!  


Oh - she did get the leg weave we were training by the end of the week!!  We have started the base for another trick (secret until we get it and then I will post video).

Some things we have learned.

Still not a whole lot going on.  I can officially say she is happy.  The tension she carried during the transitioning days has completely disappeared. I love every part of her personality. I am learning very much how Daca ticks, why to this point she has seemed to be such a challenge.  I really think she is very good at buffaloing people so that she can have the edge, be the one in charge.  Don't get me wrong, she is a challenge but oh what a joyful one!!  She is learning very quickly that I am the leader of the pack in this house.  She does test her limits now and then but within a few seconds she realizes that I am not giving in and she readily does as I ask.  I can also see that she is comfortable in the fact she has stopped reacting at everyone she sees.  She stops to see if she knows the person before going into automatic defend mode.  Even just this morning a new, strange man was cutting the grass next door and she just observed without going into defend mode.

Within another week or two we will be ready to start meeting people outside of the family.  Mostly observation at first to try to work some of her reaction away.  Help her to understand that things will be on her own time and that she does not need to show everyone just what a bad apple she can be.  She can make the choice not to be friends but she needs to learn that she can be respectful and no harm will come to her.  No one will pressure her to be petted or to go into a space she in not comfortable with.  I have learned a great deal about her just from the process of adjusting to my family.  It appeared to me that Daca related treats coming from someone to automatically mean that was someone she needed to be afraid of.  That goes against every type of shy canine training that I have ever heard of.  Here are my thoughts on that.  I flooded her with treats the day I picked her up.  It took her a few hours to warm up to me.  My husband gets home, he does not like treats so he did not grab any and boom she was his instant friend.  When we decided to start with my sons, my oldest had only given her a treat on the first day and she befriended him after the first game of soccer on day three.  Still at this point I had not thought a thing about the treats.  She was much slower warming up to my 4 year old.  Everyday I would have him feed her a bunch of treats.  She was very leery of him continuing into the 5th day.  Our schedules got busy so for about a day and a half I did not have him feed her any treats.  On the 7th morning after one whole day with no treats he became her new fun friend.  She is great with him now, loves their silly games together.  

I talked with a pro dog trainer friend of mine about this.  She agreed it was odd too.  We talked thru it.  We think that the reward (the food) is not higher than the fear to make her understand the concept.  We think maybe chicken or steak may do the trick a little better.  But I am still torn on how I want to handle new people.  I think leaving the treats out of the picture completely is the best option.  I guess trying will be the only way to find out.  I want the least amount of stress on her around new people and I think asking her to take treats puts too much on her all at once.  Maybe a toss of one here or there.   I will let you all know how that goes once we get to that point.  Just thinking ahead a little there.  I really could care less if she ever befriends anyone else.  I really just want her to be respectful which I know she has in her!!!


The space issues that I posted about in a post early on are almost nonexistent now.  She has not been nasty toward my family (dogs included) for being in my space.  She got that so easily.  I have only seen her react about space once  when she was spending time with my husband and a resource was envolved.  Ariel and I rounded the corner.  Daca thought my husband had a treat for her and turned to guard the entire area from Ariel.  My husband took action to calm her right back down (rather he knew it or not he was giving her the "calming hug" that I learned at a seminar while drawing her attention away from Ariel).  She understood quite well.  I could not ask for her to be doing better in that area.  I know she will test the waters now and then but I am up for it!!  


We started a new trick today.  We are starting the base of teaching her to weave thru my legs.  She got the first part of just walking under me to the right for a treat easily.  She even related the command without having to be lured.  I think next session she will be ready to learn to go to the left.  Heck from what I saw today we will have four consecutive steps by the end of the week!!!


Still no new name.  We have a short list but nothing seems good enough for her!!!


We will end with a picture again.  It only took two sit stays to get this.  I had to laugh at her.  Right after the click of the camera she "woofed" her disgust in a low tone and slowly strolled off.  It was the entire scenario that cracked me up...someone not wanting their picture taken, I was taking her romping time up with a dumb picture...the whole nine yards.