Off to the Coast

Off to Caroline's today! He was happy to see her and transitioned very well. He even sent a post card when he arrived at the coast. Clever boy...

Goodbye for Now

Today is the day Zoltie says goodbye to his friends (at least for now). He's off to Caroline's today for a fun romp in the woods. Although there are not as many dogs to play with, there are all sorts of other adventures that he will have and LOVE. Wish I were a dog so I could be boarded there!

Zoltie is in Heaven! Rosario has arrived...

Boarding is NOT Boring

Zoltie was happy to find out that they don't just put you in a room and throw kibble on the floor for your meals...

July Day Seven -- Night Out on the Town

Can you tell by the smile on his face that he went to a party tonight? Ok, it was really just a small BBQ, but Zoltie was sure it was the most happening place in town.

He met a retired service dog that he really liked. Ketchum was pretty happy to have someone to play ball with. We had been practicing our recalls throughout the day so I knew he was ready for this. He was a ROCK STAR on his recalls this morning, turning on a dime when he was mid run with another dog.

We thought we were all good...until he met the cat. Oh man, that was really exciting. Golden is good at enticing dogs to approach just so he can swat at them. He has no fear when it comes to dogs and he has no hesitation about taking them out when necessary.

This drove Zoltie crazy. He wouldn't get close but he really wanted to. So, instead, he barked. And barked. And barked. And he forgot what his name was or what "come" meant. That gives me real clear feedback on what I need to do.

First of all, because he wasn't responding to me when he was barking like a fool, it was time for a short time-out. Bummer. All these fun things to do and he's stuck with me on leash at the table. Boring. But now, when I do release him, I am going to get him a little farther from the distraction and I'm going to move closer to him so he doesn't have as far to get to me. Now, let's try that again, "Zoltie, come!" See? You do know your name and you know how to do a recall. Good boy! Actually, his recalls were excellent after that. It didn't take me any time at all before I could easily call him to come when he was right next to the cat and really far away from me. That's just the kind of practice we like!

It was a party, of course, so lots of opportunities to show off his greetings. The puppy, Odon, was still learning how to greet people. Zoltie, said, "Oh, I've got this, I know how to do this." Odon, however, jumped up while I was taking pictures and broke my camera. Oops. It's sure nice to have a dog who sits for his greetings.

A couple of people had met Zoltie before (several of these people are my helpers when we are working on greetings with dogs) so we got a lot of compliments on what a nice boy he is and how good he is. Everyone was really impressed with his greetings (good job!!!). And, of course, he's just so super sweet so everyone adores him. He thinks it's pretty keen to have all these people doting all over him.

He's all worn out...again. I keep telling him, it's not going to get any better at Caroline's. He will be just as worn out there as he is here...maybe even more so. Wait until he finds out there is a big giant hose there called a "river." He's not going to know what to do with all that water.

This is our last blog entry for his stay with me. Not to worry though, I'm not going to cut you off cold turkey. I'll try to post a picture or two every couple of days or so. That is, of course, after I get my camera fixed. Hazards of the job...

July Day Six -- Easily Entertained

Zoltie started the day by helping me hose down the deck. Boy, if he's this easy to entertain, he's going to think it's Disneyland at Caroline's.

Our morning entertainment ended with a big smile on Zoltie's wet face. When you find something like this that Zoltie really enjoys, it makes for a great reward when practicing recalls.

His recalls are coming along nicely but he's still a touch slow. But finding something really exciting to him makes him come to me much more quickly. Since he's not always taking treats reliably (really, you don't care for hot dogs???), it's nice to have some other tricks up your sleeve.

Another fun activity for Zoltie that can be used for a reward is Tug. Zoltie loves to tug and we're going to take advantage of that to teach him to bring things back to you and give them up easily in case he gets his little paws on something he shouldn't have.

It's also helpful when he gets a bit distracted. If he knows he's going to be rewarded with something really fun, he's more likely to pay attention.

You can also use those distractions as a reward. Excited about someone new? You can go visit after you come to me. Want to smell the flowers? Well, ok, you can just do that because you are cute.

This picture reminds me a bit of "Horton Hatches the Egg." I can just hear him saying "I meant what I said and I said what I meant, And an Zoltie's faithful, one hundred per cent!" But it really does suit him. He random check ins with me are really strong which is going to make his recalls that much stronger. He is such a good guy!

All in all, just happy. We are all just happy...

July Day Five -- Near By

Zoltie likes to be close. He sleeps under my desk when I'm working. This is all fine and dandy as long as he is getting some alone time and I'm not constantly petting him. Ok, I admit, that last one is hard. But he needs to be comfortable and confident without constantly being in contact with a person.

And most times Zoltie is as happy as can be. His smile is so wide I'd sure his family can see it all the way from the other side of the country.

But he doesn't always like to be left in the crate. Oops...he pulled the kennel tag into the crate and destroyed it. I'm pretty sure he wasn't trying to tell Sinbad that the crate belonged to him now. Luckily all pieces were present and accounted for so no trips to the vet for us. I have to say, he's the first dog I've ever had who was able to pull a kennel tag into the kennel. Tricky boy!

He's doing much better with his downs when there are distractions. We're still building up on his tolerance to the distractions. It's nice that he will be going to Caroline's for the 2nd half of the month as she will be able to provide a whole host of other distractions for him.

We certainly have our share of distractions around here. I think he likes this one...she's not as pointy.

He's also working hard on his drop command. I like to teach this with a toy so I can help him learn how rewarding it is to drop things for me. Not only does he get a treat for drop but he also gets the toy back to play more...what a sweet deal! This will help when he has stolen some fabulous treasure. He'll be much more willing to drop that item for you and give it back. Not to worry, we're working on his recall too so you won't have to chase him down when he runs down the hall with a shoe in his mouth.