Lesson 6 = A Good Day

~Just a cute picture taken by Heidi Clark~

This past Saturday we had another lesson at PetsMart. There was another adoption event and it was busy already due to it being a Saturday. We have to stay away from the adoption tent because both Georgia and I would want to take one of the dogs home with us. I wish I could save all the dogs and kids that need homes, but that’s just not possible. Anyway, I would say this lesson was our most successful yet and I felt really excited afterwards. I am actually seeing the changes and progress Georgia is making. I can honestly see it clicking in her mind and that is an awesome thing to see! I’m just a tiny bit proud of her, can you tell?!?

Our last lesson in PetsMart we started out inside and it was just too much for her to focus in – way too many distractions! So, we spent 90% of the lesson right outside of PetsMart, which is still a busy place. This lesson we started out outside and made our way inside with success. She was actually listening and responding to commands inside. Granted, once inside we had to calm her down, but after that she was good. Calming her down involved having her lie down and be still. It required C to get down on her level and talking to Georgia in a whisper. In my lessons I’ve learned to recognize stress in Georgia and when she is calm. After 2-3 minutes C had her calm and we worked on heeling, not jumping up when a person is holding a treat and stopping when I stop walking and sitting, all while staying on my left side.

The pulling on the leash really improved. That’s one of our biggest problems; she drags me toward other people or dogs because she wants to meet them. More than once when someone was coming our way she sat down and waited. We’ve been working on getting her to realize that to get attention from people she has to be sitting and not jumping. Success! However, on Friday night when we had people over she went NUTS when the door bell rang. I had her on a leash since we were expecting them, but it was just insane. She needs to realize that the door bell doesn’t equal she can go crazy. We’ll have to continue to work on this.

We had several people come up to us and several people with their dogs come up to us. Georgia was so good! There was one lady that said, “Can I pet your dog? She just looks so friendly.” That made my day; I want people to feel like Georgia is approachable. We also met an 11 year old poodle and Georgia never tried to jump or be rough, she sat still…whining and shaking a tiny bit because she wanted to play, but listened when I told her to “stay”.

C said that Georgia is starting to look like a trained dog and I’m starting to look someone that has a trained dog. She can see us working together and I LOVE IT! What an awesome relationship Georgia and I have built and are building. She’s my little fur girl and I’m so proud of her! She may be the smartest dog ever…maybe?!

Utah

 ~11,000 Feet, looking towards Salt Lake City from Snowbird Ski Resort~

 ~Mormon Temple, SLC~

 ~Bridal Falls~

A big reason for my blog silence recently was our trip to Utah. We stayed in Park City, but spent some time in Salt Lake City as well. A lot of people asked us why we were going to Utah or, “Why don’t you go to Florida?” Well, I’ve been to Florida (and the surrounding areas) a lot and have seen the Atlantic Ocean a lot, as has N so we wanted to see a part of this country we hadn’t before. Another reason is a good friend of ours lives out that way, so it was a win, win. We got to spend time with him and his girlfriend while seeing a beautiful part of America.

If you know me, you know I’m not big into the outdoors, but I’m proud to say I hiked and got trapped at the top of a mountain for four hours due to an avalanche. Yes, you read that correctly, an avalanche. It blocked the only road that goes up and down the mountain. What we were told would be about a thirty minute wait for the road to be cleared turned into over four hours. Here’s the thing, yes we were stuck and could not get down the mountain, but we were stuck in a very nice ski resort. So, needless to say we were not roughing it. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant at the resort and then sat outside in the sun (we all got a little sunburned) and chatted. While we hadn’t planned on being stuck there we ending up having a nice afternoon with friends and a funny story as a result. The one time Susanna goes into nature an avalanche happens! Our hikes were beautiful and I even walked across a log that was over a pretty serious mountain stream that would have caused some serious damage if I’d fallen. Am I brave or what?!

No, I didn’t ski. N did, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I’d tired before and it didn’t turn out well. While they skied one day I shopped – another win, win. We had an amazing view anywhere we went and the Mormon Temple in downtown SLC, was beautiful. It reminded me of a Disney princess castle. I’d also like to point out how clean SLC is…very impressive! Other American cities could/should take note of that. We visited Sundance (ski resort owned by Robert Redford) and took a tram up to 11,000 feet at the same ski resort we got stuck at for the view. We had a wonderful and relaxing time.

Now you may be asking yourself what this all has to do with Georgia? Well, not much really, but I thought our trip was worth sharing. I will say that I missed her like crazy. We humans are attached to our dogs and things seem a little off when they aren’t around. Not starting my day with Georgia is a little strange. My mom and her dog, Auburn, took care of Georgia while we were gone. Georgia missed us I’m sure, but loves being spoiled by my mom. She also loves Auburn (he weighs about 4 lbs and Georgia weighs about 40 lbs). 99% of the time they play and are best friends, but sometimes food gets in the way of that friendship and they fight. There was one episode while we were gone, but everyone is fine and they are friends again. Georgia has no food aggression with people, just other dogs. We assume her days on the streets of Indianapolis caused this before she found her way to us. So, thank you to my mom and Auburn for watching our fur kid. She had a great time.

I’m proud to report she remembered her commands – sit, stay, lay down, shake. I was worried those might go out the window, but they didn’t. We still have a lot of work to do though in regards to being in public. I took her to a new pet store last night and we had moments of good behavior and moments of extreme pulling on the leash when she saw a new person or dog. We’ll keep working though and keep venturing out into stores that will allow us for her to get used to all of the distractions that exist outside of our home.

Hoping warm weather is around the corner for some nice walks with Georgia. Stay warm and have a good day!

Lesson 5 – PetsMart

~One of my favorite pictures, she was worn out after an afternoon of pictures taken by Heidi Clark~

Sorry for my long silence. We just got back from a trip to Utah so that threw me off schedule. My next post will be about the trip with some pictures. This post is about our first “out in public” lesson with C at PetsMart on a Saturday – MADNESS! I’d venture to say that any PetsMart is literally a zoo on a Saturday and our PetsMart was no exception. Not only where there a lot of customers with their dogs, but there was also an adoption event in the parking lot, so there was something exciting to distract Georgia at every turn. Since Georgia is social and wants to be-friend everything and everyone this is tough for her. There were also a lot of children which she likes as well. I had to work on getting her to focus and work for me. We started out inside the store but quickly had to go outside since there was just too much going on.

Once outside we had to walk away from the store to get her to re-focus. The people and their pets going in and out were just too exciting. After we got some distance she calmed down and started to work with me. We working on heeling and me rewarding her with a treat at times and other times verbal praise for staying on my left side (not ahead of or behind me). Normally she’s great a sitting when I tell her to, but a few times she had to be “helped” a bit. By this I mean pulling up the leash (not hard) and slightly pinching a certain point on her hips. Sounds worse than it is, trust me.  Once she was more focused we tried going back inside, but if she started to pull we’d turn around. She had to walk calmly before I’d take her back in. She did OK in there, but not great. We need to get her used to that many distractions. She has to be able to listen to me when things are going on around us. While a nursing home or hospital most likely won’t be as active as a PetsMart on a Saturday we still have to be prepared. She has to be reliable, controllable and predictable.

The hour went by quickly and C and I discussed me taking Georgia out in public several times a week. This could include parks, PetsMart, other store where dogs are welcome or just outside other busy areas, like a strip mall or Wal-Mart. I just need to get off the couch and do it. With the weather becoming nicer this will become easier for me. This lesson concluded the 5 lessons we signed up for with C. Just this morning I e-mailed her setting up another five. The next five should be it…hopefully after that Georgia and I will be close to testing. It is my choice when I set up the testing, but I want to be prepared, even though I know not passing is very much possible, that’s ok because we can take it again and again. That about wraps it up; hope all is well and enjoy your day!

MIA

I know, I know...I've been missing in action. Good reason though, we took a trip to Park City, Utah/Salt Lake City, Utah. I want to write about our trip, what Georgia was up to while we were gone and a lesson we had with C prior to leaving that was out in public at PetsMart on a Saturday!! Oh my! I have a family wedding tomorrow, so hopefully this weekend you'll get a good post or two out of me. I've missed writing and I hope you've missed reading!! Have a great day!