Zoltie, oh my how you've grown! He looks less and less like a muppet every time I see him. Still as handsome as ever though. I gave him just a little bit of time to get use to the environment again. He's been here several times before but it's been a while (and he's a bit of a softie so we like to go slow).
He was happy to see some of his old friends and romp around a bit but he also didn't want to be crowded. It may be that he was a little overwhelmed at first or he may just be a dog who does better in small crowds.
It's a good time to check in and remind him what we are doing. Just a little bit of remedial name recognition and attention work to make sure we're on the same page. We have a lot of work to do this week but it won't do us any good if I can't get his attention.
He was not much into my treats today. It could be that he was just a little nervous on his first day back but I'll still try some different treats tomorrow to see what really gets his tail wagging. I want something that makes him do back flips so we can strengthen up that recall. He'll be going to stay with Caroline in a few weeks and we want to be sure he's coming when called consistantly so he can romp in the woods. We'll have to teach Caroline how to get twigs out of his fur if he's out in the woods...he hates when those darn twigs get stuck in his fur.
His adolescent ears seem to be a little plugged up. We'll keep working on that and remind him how fun it is to the things we ask of him.
We'll find what makes him smile and use that to reward him. That will help him be more willing to comply and it will make the training a lot more fun for him (and us).
It possible we may meet some new and old friends along the way.
We'll keep the noises in the house turned up (like the TV) to drown out some of the sounds from the fireworks. Even if he doesn't have a noise phobia now, that can develop later on. It's just safer to sheild them from all the celebrations happening outside so we'll be laying low in the evenings when the fireworks are flying.
Nice to have you back Zoltie...we've missed your smiling face.
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