I brought in a Buja board on Friday for the dogs to practice on. It is a piece of plywood with a tennis ball attached to the underside. We used it to work on confidence on new surfaces, and to give the dogs something new and challenging to work on. Star was a little apprehensive but went over it to the other side for a cookie. Chesty was a bit more apprehensive, but did put both paws on in a matter of minutes. General jumped on, sat, then laid down with the board moving the entire time without a reward.
Star~65
Star is working with AJ and Paul this week while Mark works with Chesty. She is doing well, better than expected with new handlers, new routine. “No whining, no problems” were among the comments from AJ’s worksheet. Paul says she has problems heeling with the wheelchair, but AJ didn’t notice it. They both commented on how affectionate and willing she is.
Chesty~62 Acne is better this week. Hip x-rays to be scheduled by Mike. Mark worked from Sunday to Friday with Chesty. He says that even when “pinned” for an infraction, Chesty recovers immediately, appears unaffected, and has a wagging tail. Mark was able to call Chesty out of play with another dog effectively about 50% of the time while indoors, no reaction to his name, cookie, come command when outdoors until the end of the week.
Chesty’s collar was grabbed numerous times by all handlers. Reaction by mouthing was about 50% of the time, but never with Mark or AJ.
Chesty had a very scared reaction to having his ears flushed out with ear cleaner. He cowered and tried to run away from the handler.
General~56
General got neutered on Tuesday, so not much training this week except for the basics. Mike reports that he was “dopey” on the first day back but when he got up on Wednesday was totally fine. He wears the Elizabethan collar when alone in his crate. I looked at his incision on Friday, it was perfect. No redness, or swelling. He is going to a formal event with his WPR on Saturday.
