I decided Katie needs to go back to school. She’s out of control and doesn’t listen to me at all. I think she needs more structure in her life. Plus she used to love going to school. So, given my random work schedule, I found an obedience class that allows us to drop in on the Monday evenings that I’m not working. Tonight was our first night. New building, 14 other dogs, most new to her, different smells, sounds…it was all a bit intimidating!
She reverted a bit to her initial school behavior of refusing treats. That worked out fine though, she THOUGHT she wanted a treat so she pretty much did as I asked, but when she earned a treat she held it in her mouth and then spit it out. Apparently the stress of being in school again. I remember when I first took her to school, they thought she wasn’t motivated by food! HA! And like previous classes, she has a 45 minute attention span. Then she’s just DONE. And isn’t afraid to express her feelings either!
The best part though? We did “stand for exam” where she’s supposed to stand from a sit, then let me walk away from her and allow a complete stranger (the judge or teacher) to walk up to her, pet her and move away, and she can’t move her feet at all! She has never never never succeeded at that. Either she won’t stand, or she shys away from anyone walking up to her, or if she knows the person, she jumps on them in happy greeting. Tonight she was perfect! She stood when asked…and let TWO strangers walk up to her and pet her without moving her feet! I think she was just scared, but I’ll take it!
GOOD DOG!
This morning I was looking at the calendar, checking to see when I need to be at work today. Katie was wandering around between my feet as usual, because…well…that’s what Katie does. Absentmindedly I picked her up while I studied my work schedule for next week. I shifted her in my arms and realized that she was staring intently at the picture attached to the calendar. Because of course my calendar would feature shelties. And she was very interested in the two representing September. I know that on occasion she will notice a dog on TV, but I mostly thought that was about the sound. But here she was very obviously studying the photo of two pretty shelties. It’s a cool calendar. A couple of months ago I thought the photo sort of looked like Ludo and Katie. 
We’ve had a series of really beautiful days, warm and sunny, makes a person (and a Sheltie) want to go camping again, even though all the camping equipment had been put away for the season. So on a whim I put up the little tent because it’s easier than the larger one to assemble. Of course this little tent doesn’t have a doggie window, and it’s too small to put my inflated mattress inside. So I dragged out a bunch of pillows and a couple of blankets and we settled in. The first night we made it until 6 a.m. when I woke up FREEZING cold. The temp outside was just under 50 degrees. I reached for my second blanket and found that it had been taken over by Katie who was curled up in a tiny little ball, her nose in her tail, sound asleep. I tried to go back to sleep but I was too cold, so I woke her up and we went inside. It was worth getting cold, though, because the stars at 6 a.m. were absolutely amazing.
Change Is Hard 