Strong and Silent

Pilot played the strong and silent type today on our outings. I don't want to jinx us, but the lemon shots must be working. First, we visited a tennis facility where one of my former players was playing a college tennis match. Pilot was wiggly, but silent. There were cupcakes on a low table: one for each of the girls on the team. Pilot faked like he was stretching to get nearer to the table. One of the moms laughed and said if he ate one, it had better be Katie's (the girl I was there to see).
From the match, we visited the mall for a walk in the crowds. Each time we do this, I am amazed at his progress. He now walks on a loose leash unless we are near the food court area where we continue to work on the "leave it" command.
I stopped and sat twice to test his down "settles" and his control over his voice. He's still wiggly, but he was quiet.
Our next stop was to Pet Smart. Walking the aisles while tempted with toys, treats, and food is just overwhelming for Pilot. While I was working in one aisle, I overheard two workers commenting that Pilot is a handful for his age. I'm sure they thought he was a year old or more. When I got nearer and started working closer to one of them, she asked how old he was. I loved the look on her face when I said he was 6 months old:)
He finally settled down and I did some sits and downs near the doorway.
Our last stop was Starbuck's. I ordered a drink and sat at a table. He was a little wiggly at my feet, but I'm celebrating that he was quiet at last.
I'm proud of my strong, silent baby boy.

The Realization

I am showing my dog in one week.

Eeeeek!

I'm A Man

I met John and Jess at our Essexville house and we let Maizie and Pilot play in the backyard. Then we took them for a mile and 1/2 walk. I was hoping that Pilot would be tired enough to behave at the high school musical, Annie. Daddy Warbucks was played by one of my tennis players and several other tennis players were in the cast.
I had saved Pilot's dinner to hand feed him while we watched, but that was a mistake. He was nosing my hands and wiggling around. Then I put him on a down at my feet to chew on several stuffed Kongs. That worked for awhile until the occasional barks started. They just come out of the blue. They are isolated: only one at a time, but they are embarrassing!! I wasn't too upset though because it was free senior citizen night and half of the audience is deaf. The first half lasted almost 2 hours and about 20 minutes from the end, Pilot fell asleep. At intermission, I debated over whether to put him in the car after pottying him, or try to get him through the whole thing. I decided on the latter. While I took him out to potty, several people complimented him on his great job as Sandy! I don't know if you remember, but the director wanted to cast Pilot as Sandy, but I told him that Pilot was too young. I steered him to the Davis' who are puppy raising Summer, an 8 month old Leader Dog pup. She did do a great job! Pilot, however, took all the credit at the intermission. I did run into the director who knew the barking was from Pilot, but he just laughed about it. In the second act, Pilot was doing well, but out of the blue, let out a huge bark. From there it was all downhill. He just squirmed and backed away from me. I quietly took him out to the car. After the show, Ann Davis told me that people were surprised that Summer was barking!
Just like a man...Pilot took all the credit and passed all the blame off to a woman!

I'm Not Lion

No lying, Pilot was not very good at the Lion's Club meeting. We got there early and he pooped and peed which was good. But he tried to jump on Karen and Ron Sharp, also puppy raisers. But they knew to immediately turn their backs on him and he immediately responded by settling down and letting them approach to pet him. Their Smooth Collie, Kenzie could not attend because she broke her leg roughhousing in their back yard! By the end of the night, they were probably wishing they had brought their dog, cast and all!
Pilot was not on his best behavior. He barked a few times before dinner started and I finally got him under the table with his bribes (stuffed Kongs). When we stood to say the pledge, he popped out, hitting his head in the process and making a loud boom! Oh brother!
I got him back under the table and gave him a real bribe: a bully stick. That was all he needed. He was perfect for the rest of the dinner.
I had to take it away as we went to the front of the room to present the program. The program lasted way too long for Pilot (I want to say it was 40 minutes long!!!) Well, Pilot could not keep his mouth shut. Fortunately, the Lions thought he was so cute and didn't care. I tried everything: giving him the quiet command, having him do puppy push-ups, heeling him around, having him settle as I gave him paw massages. Each thing worked for a few minutes and then he would go back to voicing his opinion that he had had enough and wanted to go home!
I finally decided to go back to the table, give him the bully stick back, and let him go back under the table to chill. That was my best idea of the night.
When I took the stick away for pictures, he was not a happy camper. I'm surprised the pictures turned out as well as they did!
Why was raising a Leader Dog on my bucket list?

A New Season

Despite Dreamer coming into season earlier this week, I decided I'd take her to her obedience lesson today and just see how it went. I haven't noticed a huge change in her personality at home. She's a bit clingy, but it's not troublesome and doesn't get in the way of what I ask her to do.

When we got to class and Karen wasn't there yet, I was a little worried. She's not a morning person, and I wondered if she had remembered to Spring Ahead. She called me about 5 minutes after our lesson was supposed to start and said she'd be right there. She lives across the street from where we train, so it wasn't a long wait.

Dreamer and I played with her Wing-a-ball while awaiting Karen's arrival and did a few sit-waits. There was a baseball game going on nearby, so the crack of the bat and children screaming were two very good distractions. Dreamer's waits were solid. I was so proud of her.

Once Karen arrived, we worked on some heeling and then moved on to Figure 8s. We touched on those at our last lesson but really troubleshooted them today. Karen works everything in pieces, which drives me insane, but she always has a good reason. We worked on a "back" motion when Dreamer is rounding the post on my inside, and then a "hurry" motion when she's rounding the opposite post on my outside. She's got the "back" motion down but not the "hurry," so we broke it down. I was really very happy and surprised by her willingness (and 100% ability) to work through being in season. I wasn't sure what I was going to get today.

Dreamer did have a few issues during the sit-wait while I was headed to the end of the Flexi for a recall. She wanted to clean herself, and I had to put her back in position a few times. Poor baby girl. She was the first lesson of the day, so I hope she didn't leave a lot of distracting smells for the boys who came after her.

The sweet and loving male GSD that has a lesson after us wanted to greet Dreamer today and is neutered, but his owner had other plans. She wanted to introduce somebody new to Karen. I put Dreamer in her crate and started writing my check out to Karen when I had to stop everything because of an adorable 8-week-old black GSD baby girl. SO ADORABLE! I had flashbacks to when I met Karen during Panda's lesson and introduced her to Dreamer at that age. That little bear cub face also made me think of you and the bear cubs yet to come. It's a new season, and I am so ready for it!

A Mixed Bag

Today's training was definitely a mixed bag, but very worthwhile for Pilot. We started out on our street. I knew the garbage truck was coming, so I wanted to be sure to walk alongside for as long as we could. Pilot did well! Interesting that barking dogs are more frightening for him than garbage trucks. The funny part was watching his nose twitch. I was just imagining all the smells he could distinguish:)
We then rode to Midland where he went into Applebees with me to pick up a gift certificate for a friend. I set the tone in the parking lot where I backed up often and did not let him sniff at all. That made it much easier once we got inside. I had to go to the bar area with him to get the gift card and I could see the manager approaching. I had already asked permission and received it, so I held my breath hoping that there wasn't some misunderstanding. Pilot immediately lay down and settled, so he was being a good boy. The manager was very nice and explained that he is not a fan of dogs but he was very impressed by Pilot and thanked me for what I was doing. Whew!
Pilot and I then traveled back to Sanford where we met Barb and Jessie at the kennel club. Pilot loves Jessie as much as Remy did, so it was a great test for him to ignore her. We helped Barb with the figure 8 (Pilot was not a very good post for the first go-round, but then he got the message), recall, stand, etc. Barb helped me with controlled greetings. I also worked with Pilot on sits and downs and go to your mat.
The best part came at the end when we let them play. How funny to see Pilot try to keep up with Jessie! He was all gumby-like and would often just puppy flop and let her sniff him. But they got a great run in and he was tired when we got home.
We followed up with a nap on the bed: always a great training exercise:)

Leader Dog School

Today was a good day, even for a Monday. Pilot and I and Frank and Summer went to Rochester for Leader Dog class. We haven't seen Sam, our instructor for a month because she was not there 2 weeks ago. She was the instructor who at our first class in January said that I needed to form a bond with Pilot. I think Frank clued her in about my situation after that.
She was most complimentary today. She agreed that Pilot is stubborn and said that he needs to be micromanaged and that I am doing a great job of it! She was blown away by his "arounds" at the doorways. I knew he would do it well because our house door hinges on the left so we get plenty of practice with it. Pilot also did great with "go to your mat". He lay down automatically. I didn't even have to tell him. My heart was bursting with pride:)
For the controlled greetings, they have hooks on the wall. We hooked up our dogs and then went to greet other dogs. I kept my eye on him to see how he would do with the other people. He was amazing! He never once jumped up on anyone or got excited. I can't wait to tell all my friends at the kennel club that our hard work is paying off. He still has problems around other dogs. I think it's the Remy in him:)
We also worked on stairs and he did well. I've noticed a pattern with him when he has a problem. He will repeat his behavior for 3 times and each time we try again. On the 4th try, he gives in and acquiesces.
Because Pilot was so good, I got a chance to observe other people and their dogs. I have to admit: we have made the most progress. I am so proud of us. Go Team!

Dragging Our Feet

Dreamer and I got rained out of our lesson again today, but we trained so much yesterday that I feel like we need the break.

We went to conformation drop-in class yesterday and had a relatively successful outing. We'll go back on Monday night. At the end of class, when people started clapping and Dreamer turned into a wild pony, I grabbed the sides of her mane and settled her down with a light pinch -- Karen's trick at our last lesson when Dreamer was barking at distractions. Dreamer instantly flattened her ears and looked sorry for her behavior. Then we ran around the ring, clapping and all, and Dreamer acted like a dog! It was amazing.

Our instructor walked up to us immediately afterwards, and I couldn't tell if she was going to say something positive or negative about the chest pinch. She said, "That wasn't half bad!" Dreamer responded by jumping up on her and showering her with kisses and love. I told her that the pinch was our new trick. She said it worked! I thought so too. If only we could use it in the ring...

After class, I rode my bike for 90 minutes and then came back home to get Dreamer. I wanted to squeeze in an obedience training session with her and figured she had probably had a good nap after conformation class. After about 5 minutes, however, it was clear to me that an additional training session was a bad idea. Maybe it was the warm weather, but I think Dreamer was exhausted from class and had no brain cells left to focus on obedience. She mentally checked out and was dragging her feet. I pressed on for an additional 15 minutes, but things didn't get better. I decided we'd had enough. Win some, lose some. Not all training sessions can be spectacular, right?

Today we are both dragging our feet. The rain is exhausting. I'm glad we spent a lot of time together yesterday. Being active with Dreamer is a wonderful thing, but our lazy time is fun too.

Pilot Light

Pilot is lighting up my life with his progress.

• His loose leash walking is amazing! He can now stride past barking dogs and other scary objects. Traffic does not faze him; even on the shoulder of country roads where cars are zooming past at 50+ mph. Strange objects do scare him the first time he sees them such as a little girl on a bike.
  
• His restaurant excursions are becoming more successful. He saved his barks until 55 minutes into the trip.
  
• We have added "controlled retrieving" to our list of fun things to do. On a flexi, I will seat him or down him by my side, tell him to "wait", throw a stick the length of the flexi, and then tell him to "take it". He takes off like an OTCH dog in Open B, ears flapping, retrieves the stick and flies back, tail wagging. With some mighty thumb action, I am able to lock and release the flexi to draw him straight back to me for a sit in front as I take the stick. If given a choice, he would circle around and past me.
  
• We have been working on his "tissue issues". He is attending TA classes (Tissues Anonymous).
  
• "Hi, my name is Pilot and I am a Tissueholic."
• Group: "Hi Pilot".
• Pilot: "I have not yet made it through one full day without the delicious taste of tissue in my mouth, but my master is working hard with me.
• Group Leader: "What types of things are you working on?"
• Pilot: "She drops tissue and toilet paper in piles on the floor and I am supposed to ignore them."
• GL: "Is this working?"
• Pilot: "Yes, I know that if I avoid these piles, I get a treat."
• GL: "So why are you not in recovery yet, even for a day?"
• Pilot: "Because she is trying to get me to understand to also leave the roll of toilet paper on the roll."
  
• GL: "And you can't resist the way it flies off the roll as you run?"
• Pilot: "Exactly. And once I have it in my mouth, well, you know what happens next."
• GL: "Hang in there. It will come."
• Group: "Good luck, Pilot."
• Pilot: "Is that a wastebasket I see over there?"