Friday, July 13, 2012
Tess' Triumphs
Tess' Triumphs
Okay, I confined Shadow, Tess (and Sammy) in my office with me this morning in anticipation of the cleaning ladies' arrival. When the ladies entered, I put leashes on the dogs and took them for a walk. I got a couple of "intruder" barks from both dogs, but no extended noise from either of them. Tess pulled a bit on the leash as we were leaving my office. We took about a 20-25 minute walk. I am not stressing so much about them walking right at my side and am simply correcting too much advance movement with a slight snap of the leashes (actually, I let the leashes go slack so the dogs' sort of correct themselves.) Shadow (the ultimate advance guard) has become a model citizen on the leash since Tess joined the family. I thought it was a pleasant walk since I wasn't constantly stopping to correct their position, untangle leashes, etc.
Returning home I put the dogs in the pool enclosure (our only fenced area) with their water, while I watered the plants. Because Tess played in the hose spray, we remained outside for about 20 minutes for her to dry off a bit. She took this opportunity to start rough housing with Shadow which often starts her irritating bark. I didn't say anything, didn't push/pull her off of Shadow, didn't use a penny bomb or noise distraction of any kind (all of which I do on a regular basis...oops) but simply use the static pressure on her collar. She gave up almost immediately and dropped to the deck where she dozed for a few minutes. I was happy, Shadow was happy and, presumably, Tess was happy. Can it really be this simple? I am waiting for her to dream up some new tests for me while she's napping!
Okay, I confined Shadow, Tess (and Sammy) in my office with me this morning in anticipation of the cleaning ladies' arrival. When the ladies entered, I put leashes on the dogs and took them for a walk. I got a couple of "intruder" barks from both dogs, but no extended noise from either of them. Tess pulled a bit on the leash as we were leaving my office. We took about a 20-25 minute walk. I am not stressing so much about them walking right at my side and am simply correcting too much advance movement with a slight snap of the leashes (actually, I let the leashes go slack so the dogs' sort of correct themselves.) Shadow (the ultimate advance guard) has become a model citizen on the leash since Tess joined the family. I thought it was a pleasant walk since I wasn't constantly stopping to correct their position, untangle leashes, etc.
Returning home I put the dogs in the pool enclosure (our only fenced area) with their water, while I watered the plants. Because Tess played in the hose spray, we remained outside for about 20 minutes for her to dry off a bit. She took this opportunity to start rough housing with Shadow which often starts her irritating bark. I didn't say anything, didn't push/pull her off of Shadow, didn't use a penny bomb or noise distraction of any kind (all of which I do on a regular basis...oops) but simply use the static pressure on her collar. She gave up almost immediately and dropped to the deck where she dozed for a few minutes. I was happy, Shadow was happy and, presumably, Tess was happy. Can it really be this simple? I am waiting for her to dream up some new tests for me while she's napping!
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