Saturday, August 13, 2016

Training For Boris's training today, we focused on generalizing what he already does so well, particularly his heel work.  I had noticed on Friday that Boris knew how to heel on the driveway and in the hallways, but once we started to cross the field, he thought it must be sniff time. So we worked on teaching heel in a new environment and then using the reward "go sniff" to give him that special time to sniff. He did very well! Miss Tasha needed pretty much the same thing and we did lots of recall work as well. We also did more random rewards for Tasha, as she is much less willing to work when treats aren't involved. It worked very well, and she caught on to the game quickly, seeming to enjoy the anticipation of not knowing when treats would be coming.  I took Gracie into the food room with me to test her affinity for a variety of treats and we picked out some nice liver chunks for her work time. Since it was absolutely pouring rain outside we did all our work inside, but I set Gracie up in rooms she hasn't worked in before, like the food room and different hallways. The distraction of a new environment really got her attention and she was watching me intently. Gracie was very reluctant to do downs without a treat right in front of her nose, but I persevered and she made me laugh when she would slowly slide down but not quite let her tummy touch the floor, so we worked on making sure she gave me a full down. When I took her to her bed and asked her to "go to bed," she jumped on her comfy spot and plunked herself down happily. Extra Attention Gracie was super sleepy when I took her out for some extra attention first thing this morning. We went for a walk out front, which she always loves, and then we did some tricks to get her into the groove for the day. It was not a great day, weather-wise, and I had the feeling that Gracie wanted to snuggle and cuddle more than anything so I sat on the chair with her and we did just that. She is a terrible influence, though, since I didn't want our time together to end. When it was over, I had to go to work and Gracie got to go back to her cozy bed. Miko had fun checking out the toy box this morning when we got together for our extra attention. He toured around the reception area, sniffing and exploring and then we played with a few of his favorite toys. I brought him up onto the chair with me for some cuddle time and then since he was more awake and active, we went out for a nice walk out front where he took his time sniffing some more.  Ghira is so much fun to play ball with. She is as ball mad as any Jack Russell and it makes play time a blast. The best part about playing fetch with Ghira is that she drops the ball when you ask her. We played fetch for almost her entire extra attention time since it was pouring rain outside.  Carter also had fun with toys during his extra attention time this morning. He loved the toy box, but his favorites were the bones he found when he dug through the pile. He settled down happily to have a good chew and then did a complete tour of the reception area to sniff everything to his hearts content. Carter is so busy with the other dogs during his group play time that it was really nice to spend some special time with him. Pippin was very excited to get up to the reception area for his extra attention time. He started off by investigating everything thoroughly. Although he was interested in the toybox, the prospect of some delicious treats trumped toys in a hurry. He showed off some of his skills for treats and seemed to enjoy giving his paw most of all. We then had a huge snuggle session in the comfy armchair, where he sat on my lap and gave me lots of kisses. Groups Miko had a wonderful day. In the morning, he was as happy as ever to be let outside for his first rotation. Though, when he got outside he realized it was quite the rainy day. He stood in the rain and let his fur get soaked. Soon after that, it was time for walks. Miko enjoyed his walk and he didn't let the rain stop him from having a great time with his little friend. A little later on, when he went outside in the yard for his next play time, Miko was happy to see all of his friends. Almost instantly, his pal Coconut came up to him with her tail wagging and whined at him. He looked at her and perked his ears up a bit. She started to pounce around him, and he watched her. They sniffed each other for a while. Miko stood and stared at me with his little tongue out. I came over and gave him a snuggle. Pippin had a lovely day. He was very happy to see me in the morning, and wagged his little tail. We spent some time outside together. Pippin was quite happy to go out again for his next outdoor time with his group. When he first got outside, he was wagging his tail and walking around from friend to friend saying hello. Since he was quite wet from the rain that hadn't let up all morning, Pippin stopped greeting his friends for a moment to quickly shake off his fur. Miko watched as Pippin shook off, and then they sniffed each others' noses after. Pippin came over to me to say hello to me as well and then headed back to his friends.  Gracie enjoyed her day. She was cozy in her big bed this morning, and wagged her tail when I came in to see her. I got her outside for her first group of the day, which she enjoyed just exploring around on her own. A little later on, Gracie walked with  through the trails. When it was time for Gracie's next group, she happily followed me out the door. During this group, she hung out with Harvey and Odessa a lot. Since Harvey was new, Gracie ran over to sniff him. He started to pounce around happily. Odessa also came over to exchange greetings with Gracie. Gracie got a little cold and wet from the rain, so she followed me to stand under the roof to avoid the rain. She sat at my feet so I gave her some cuddles. Max and Sadie began their morning on a wonderful walk for just the two of them. They were so very excited to come in today - I could just tell by their energy level. Max was of course the more rambunctious one while waiting to go on their walk but he did calm down when I asked him to. I had him sitting like the nice boy that he is before I would put his leash on and let him go. He followed the idea very well and couldn’t wait to get outside as soon as he got to the door. Sadie was right on his tail but was a bit more patient. She made sure to give me a few quick kisses before we head off on the walk. During the walk, Max and Sadie both stayed at the end of their leashes for quite some time but would come back and see me from time to time. Sadie also got caught up sniffing in the long grass a lot. She loved to just jump right into it during her walk and search through the grass for anything she could find. Max was of course very intrigued by the idea and did follow her a few times but paid a bit more attention to give me kisses. When it came to their outdoor playgroup they were just as excited to go outside as they were for their walk. This time, Sadie was the first to race out as she was very excited to see her good friends Tasha, Boris, Magic, Justice, as well as a few more huskies. Sadie wasn’t quite as playful during her group time as she was cuddly. She spent most of her time snuggling up beside me as much as she could and always made sure to get a quick belly rub or chin scratch in as well. Max was definitely more playful today. He spent most of his time horsing around with all of our huskies as well as the boarding huskies in the group. Max especially enjoyed the company of  Justice today. He looked so cute playing with him as he kept going to lick his ears. Soon after, Max was in tackle mode as he continued the rest of his play group. What an exciting day it was for Carter. Carter began his morning on a very fast paced and energetic walk with two of his newest friends. As soon as I came to his kennel he knew that it was definitely his time to go and was more than ready to do so. Carter leapt out of his kennel and trotted right to the door as he waited for me to join him. Once he got outside and saw his new friends he immediately began dancing around with them before actually starting his walk. During Carter’s walk, he spent a lot of his time close to me. His favorite thing to do was to circle my legs as many times as he could in a row; which of course got us all into a big tangled mess but at least we were having fun. When it came for his outdoor playgroup, Carter was definitely the most popular dog in his group. Since he was out in a group of a few other new friends, everyone was all over him to figure out who he was. I think Carter really enjoyed the attention as it almost always led to a big play chase or tackle. Carter was the king of chasing today. Every chance he got he was racing back and forth with any dog that he could.  Boris and Tasha were off to the races throughout the entire day today. When I first let them out this morning the two of them were goofily bouncing all around their kennel, on top of one another and at the kennel door to try and tempt me further into letting them out. As soon as I did they went racing for the door but couldn't quite leave yet without leashes on. Although they weren't happy about if, they were both very good at waiting for me to put them on before they could finally sprint out the door. Which is exactly what they did. Boris quickly took the lead in the walk as he was immediately at the end of his leash trying to venture further. Tasha burst out of the hallway into the yard right after Boris but took her time once she actually got out. She got a good overall sniff in of the yard before she joined him at the end of their leashes to begin their walk. Once on their walk, Tasha and Boris remained side by side for the most part. They seemed to like mimicking each other this morning as they would always follow whatever the other one was doing. If Boris went to go sniff in the long grass, Tasha would be following shortly. This continued for most of their walk until they began playing. Boris started it off with a few play bows and it was game on from then on. Tasha and Boris were going crazy with playing. She would jump on him and he'd return the gesture by play tackling her and so on. The two of them ended up completely tangled up in each others leashes. During their outdoor play group, Boris raced outside with as much speed as before so that he could go see his other husky friends. Tasha was of course right on his tail but this time she wasn't very focused on playing and spent more time sniffing around the yard. Of course Tasha would join Boris for a little bit of tackling every now and again but for the most part she remained happy on her own. Boris was the hit of his group. Our huskies Justice, Magic and Rosie loved bouncing around with him. He always let them completely gang up on him too because I think he enjoyed the attention a bit too much. Boris spent most of his time with the other huskies and rarely took a break from playing the entire day.