Zia is getting better all the time. She had a very good day today with only a few slip ups. We are transitioning nicely to just using the electronic collar though she isn't quite there yet. And! She loves her place mat.
Today started with a mildly frustrating workout. Zia was biting the leash and acting snappish and short tempered. I chalked this up to not sleeping well. When I say snappish I don't mean she was trying to bite, more she would sharply turn her head towards me if I poked her to make her sit up straight. Never actually threatening to bite but she was clearly annoyed with me and with the training. So, naturally, I made her work a little more. Soon she understood that the workout -was- going to happen regardless of her mood and she settled into working mode, albeit a bit grudgingly.
Noting her sour mood I let her sleep for most of the morning. She must have been up for most of the night because she happily snoozed on the floor next to me until the afternoon. After her nap she was positively chipper. Our next walk and workout were very enjoyable and I even let her off her rope to allow her to bounce around in the tall grass. After her second workout, I introduced Place. She has a pretty little blanket to use as her mat and she picked up the command right away. She is still working out that she has to stay on it until I tell her she can get off (if she takes a long nap she wakes up and just wanders off of it) but if she starts walking off of it all I have to do is verbally say "No" from the couch or chair I am in and she backs right up and sits back down.
I have not yet tested it with large distractions, like someone coming into the house, but will do that tomorrow. We will probably start with me leaving the room and work up to someone entering the house and talking excitedly.
When it comes to her habit of bolting to the door she is doing well. She at least stops before she gets to the door and comes back but it took a fairly large correction (for her, she is pretty sensitive to the collar and does not need heavy corrections) to get her to stop trotting away. She just needs practice and lots of encouragement to do the right thing.
Hopefully she will get a better nights sleep tonight and we can have a day full of productive workouts.
Today started with a mildly frustrating workout. Zia was biting the leash and acting snappish and short tempered. I chalked this up to not sleeping well. When I say snappish I don't mean she was trying to bite, more she would sharply turn her head towards me if I poked her to make her sit up straight. Never actually threatening to bite but she was clearly annoyed with me and with the training. So, naturally, I made her work a little more. Soon she understood that the workout -was- going to happen regardless of her mood and she settled into working mode, albeit a bit grudgingly.
Noting her sour mood I let her sleep for most of the morning. She must have been up for most of the night because she happily snoozed on the floor next to me until the afternoon. After her nap she was positively chipper. Our next walk and workout were very enjoyable and I even let her off her rope to allow her to bounce around in the tall grass. After her second workout, I introduced Place. She has a pretty little blanket to use as her mat and she picked up the command right away. She is still working out that she has to stay on it until I tell her she can get off (if she takes a long nap she wakes up and just wanders off of it) but if she starts walking off of it all I have to do is verbally say "No" from the couch or chair I am in and she backs right up and sits back down.
I have not yet tested it with large distractions, like someone coming into the house, but will do that tomorrow. We will probably start with me leaving the room and work up to someone entering the house and talking excitedly.
When it comes to her habit of bolting to the door she is doing well. She at least stops before she gets to the door and comes back but it took a fairly large correction (for her, she is pretty sensitive to the collar and does not need heavy corrections) to get her to stop trotting away. She just needs practice and lots of encouragement to do the right thing.
Hopefully she will get a better nights sleep tonight and we can have a day full of productive workouts.
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