We’re still enforcing the “OFF!” for the furniture, including the bed. It’s very hard for us, harder for me than for my husband. Sometimes we’re sitting on the sofa doing something and don’t even NOTICE when she jumps up and sits down next to us. Of course the sooner we say “OFF!” the better, but once in awhile one of us notices the other person sitting on the sofa or asleep in bed with Katie curled right up against the totally unconscious person. I have to say she’s not stupid! She’ll try and if she gets an inch she figures she’s in like flyn. NOT! Mostly though she’s trying really hard to be good, though you can see she really wants to be next to us.
And to keep her busy…we’re in two classes this training session! Last Thursday husband and I took her back to the rally class. That’s 30 minutes of obedience and 30 minutes doing rally. Katie kind of enjoys this because she understands what’s expected of her. Though she HATES being put in a crate so that I can walk the rally course prior to us trying to execute it. She backs right up if she figures out we’re heading over to the crates. Here’s a picture of little Katie in a huge crate next to a huge dog in a middle sized crate. The big dog next to her LOVES shelties, but Katie isn’t so sure she wants to initiate a friendship!
Yesterday Katie, husband and I went to a beginning agility class. There were only 6 dogs in this class so that was nice. Katie loves to jump and run through the tunnel. But she continued her fear of the dogwalk. Sometimes I could get her to jump back on and walk down the other side, but as the class continued and we tried again she balked and refused to do anything whatsoever with the dog walk. As for the teeter? No way no how. By the time we got to the teeter she wouldn’t go anywhere near it. I’m sure it looked a lot like a dogwalk. The other two dogs in my group (a poodle and a miniature aussie) of course had no trouble with anything.
This morning Katie and I went back to our rally class. The agility stuff was still set up in a ring, and as we were early to rally we went over there so she could sniff it. My rally instructor came out of the bathroom and stopped by to see what we were doing. I told her about the dogwalk fear and she said let’s try! She allowed me to put Katie on the top of the dog walk and as she spotted one side, I walked the other so Katie couldn’t jump off. Katie walked down the ramp just fine. But she was still scared to walk onto it herself. Wednesday night the agility instructor wouldn’t let me pick up Katie and put her on anything. Ah well. We’ll see how it all works again next Wednesday night. Husband dug out the plank I was using last summer and says he’ll put it up on a couple of concrete blocks so Katie and I can practice walking just slightly above ground on a board. Maybe that will help!
Meanwhile, I took a picture today of Katie on the table. She wouldn’t stay on it Wednesday night (she’s not allowed on furniture at home you know!) but she stayed on it today for me. Such a girl. And a picture of her sitting next to the dreaded dogwalk. She looks happy, but I think it’s an act!
Today in rally she was about perfect. I got a shot of her in the line of other dogs doing her sits/downs. She never moved, even though she was right at the end next to a fabric wall behind which were three owners who were practicing open sits/downs and had “left the room.” They were talking quite loudly and she kept looking over that way but she never broke. Even when one of them sneezed!! And then someone knocked over a CHAIR for heavens sake! She flinched but didn’t move. I’m very proud of her for that.
We’re also working on “Paw” where I ask for her left hand. She’s obviously a right handed dog as she wants to offer “Shake.” But sometimes she will raise her left paw fractionally and she almost always shifts her weight over to her right foot when I ask for PAW! So that’s some progress.
Sweet girl.
We’ve had some issues with Katie that have been building and becoming more severe. Mostly we’re frightened that she will lunge and bite someone the way she lunges and shows her teeth at us when unexpected sharp noises occur at home. We can’t sneeze, tear tinfoil, change the garbage bag, or vacuum without risking getting attacked by a snarling hysterical dog. Well that’s not good. My 75 year old aunt sneezed and Katie hit her right in the hips and knocked her into the kitchen cupboards. So you can see the problem.
I haven’t had time to study anything yet, but I have hope! Meanwhile, last Saturday I took Katie to our local pet store and purchased an inexpensive CLICKER! It’s really loud. And worse, Katie HATES HATES HATES the clicker. I sat on the floor with a bunch of treats and called her. Clicked when she came to me and attempted to give her a treat. The clicker caused her to back away, eyes wide. I tried again. She backed up further. Didn’t want anything to do with the clicker OR the treats OR me! I tried several times, tossing her the treats which she gulped down, but she wouldn’t come near me. Over the past 3 days we’ve tried a few times, but she still HATES the clicker. I’m not sure if this is normal and if I should keep trying to get her to come to associate it with treats.
IT DOESN’T BELONG THERE MOM! WHAT’S IT DOING IN MY LIVING ROOM MOM? I DON’T LIKE IT! NOT AT ALL! oh…there’s a treat on the top? Well…maybe…I’ll just take that treat off your hands, you know, just help myself to that tasty morsel… ” 
But that’s about all she would do. She wouldn’t have anything to do with it except to take a treat off the top and stare at it intently.
We played with the frisbee as a treat in between working on our obedience skills, heeling, staying, standing and then running on the board. She’s almost at the point that I can say “Walk the board!” and she’ll go (almost) on her own and run the board. She stops though if I’m not running next to her, to make sure that’s what I really meant. 
She’s not quite ready to just run it herself. She has, however, on occassion, gone over and walked over the board all by herself without any direction at all from me. Then she looks at me and grins as if to say, “SEE? I can do this board thing..where’s my treat?”
Change Is Hard 