13 Months: Training - Day 23

Jack and Emma Play

Be glad you are receiving this post tonight and not tomorrow.  I came to the conclusion that I simply did not want to write three posts for this blog and Emma's blog (making a total of six) tomorrow.  I am exhausted and worn to the ground after a long day of worry over Jack's older sister Deva and taking care of six dogs.

Deva, Jack's German Shepherd sister, came to my home today to see if I could get her to eat.  On Sunday Deva began throwing up and by Monday her Mom, Ronda, took her to the vet where she was diagnosed with Pancreatitis. She hasn't eaten since Sunday, mainly because she feels awful, and Ronda has spent that time trying to get her to eat the special diet she was given by the vet.  Today Ronda brought her to me, by my request the night before, to see if I couldn't entice Deva to try her food.  I spent the day offering Deva food once every 30 minutes and watched a very sick dog turn her nose away from it and sometimes get up and go lay elsewhere to get away from the food I had.  It was painful to watch.  Deva is returning to the vet in the morning.

This meant I had a total of six dogs in my house today and five of them were willing to help Deva eat her food whenever I brought it out to feed her.  Jack was all loving and wanting to touch me all day and when Jack does that Emma is right there to get her share of loving and then Max is.  At one point or another all day long I had 1 to 5 dogs touching me and demanding my attention - it was tiring.

Hall Monitor Max

Emma and Jack were in excited play  mode, which set off Hall Monitor Max (as seen in the video) and thus the house was noisy and busy.  Josh came over to work on lifting the cement slab I am removing to lay a new yard and thus the dogs were constantly barking at him as he came in and out of the house for water.

It was a noisy, busy, tiring day; but a lot was accomplished!

Today's Training:

Zen

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 2 Zen.  Today I took Jack into the kitchen to work Level 1 Zen again.  Jack has been working Level 1 Zen in the living room while I was seated and I decided to retrain Level 1 Zen in the kitchen while I was standing.  Jack got it without a hiccup.  He needs to build duration with Zen without flopping to the ground like I've deflated him, but he is doing Zen when I stand.  And for the first time, he's not trying to take everything I have in my hands out of them when I am walking.  A big change in behavior for Jack!

Crate

Jack is working on Level 2: Step 2 Crate.  He passed Step 1!  Today I started to work on Jack entering the crate and the next thing I know he's rushing in and turning to get his rewards!  He is going in on cue ("Go In") and he's happy doing it!  What a change.

I started to lure Jack into a Flat within the crate and rewarding him for the behavior.  We will continue to do this until Jack turns and lays down in the crate on his own.

I also started to shut the door and then quickly open it and reward him for the being calm when the door is shut.  Before this would have sent him flying for the hills, but Jack is so into the new crate games he's rushing back in, even when Max is in the crate with him, and looking for his reward!  What a wonderful change for Jack.

Observations

Jack is one of the most patient, gentle, loving, snuggly dogs I have ever met.  When overwhelmed he simply comes and rests his head against me and then after a few moments of contact returns to what he was doing.  He's quick to recover from surprises or concerning events and willing to retry something, even if he thought it was scary before.  He's even willing to put up with Emma's shark mode when she's snapping her mouth so hard you can hear the teeth click and biting at his face.

Today Emma went into full shark, annoying puppy mode and I told her she would soon run out of puppy leeway and her license would expire and he'd tell her off.  I know he can, because he tells Max off every so often.  So far all he does with Emma is put his front legs over here and pin her so he can continue to play with a toy or get up and walk away from her when he's tired of her.  He has never told her to cool it any other way, but today I saw the beginning of his patience end - he took her muzzle in his mouth and told her clearly he was done with sharp teeth in his ear hair.  I think most any other dog would have told Emma off long before this; Jack is simply amazing and patient with his little step-sister.

I did see a rousing game of catch me if you can and bitey face today and they were clearly enjoying it.  Emma and Jack played tag for almost 30 minutes around the house and both were kicking up dirt and gravel in their bursts of racing energy.  Deva, Attitude, Dieter and Max ignored the two as they raced at full speed throughout my yard and tore after each other.  It was a balanced play session between the two and Max enjoyed a quiet game of Frisbee while Deva lay nearby and recovered her strength - poor baby really doesn't feel good.

Jack is ready to be pushed on his Sit, Flat and Zen behaviors and will start a serious job of learning recall and target shortly.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	2	2	3	3

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	2	0	0	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	1	0	2	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	0	0	1	0	0

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	0	0	0	1	0

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	0	0