Maddie & Stella Updates!

STELLA

Stella is coming right along! :o)  She is still very nervous around new things but she has had many field trip days to PetSmart/Co & Home Depot.  She is starting to play with the other dogs but has moments where I can tell by her body language she feels like she needs to strike out.  She is corrected immediately before she reacts & then she's back to playing.  Her obedience is coming along wonderfully.  She is holding her commands with a ton of distractions.....even the cats taunting her & racing through the house like fools.  The next few days Stella will get worked around more distractions & go on a few more field trips & hopefully be ready to see her momma on Saturday!

MADDIE:
Maddie is a little super star!!  She has done excellent on her potty training!  She has started perching herself, front feet on the wall, & just stands until I notice her to take her out.  She loves playing with the other small dogs & exploring the backyard....go figure.  She is doing excellent off leash & now the test is on as I add harder & harder distractions & we will have fieldtrip days to the park & PetSmart for her to work on her manners when greeting people!!

~~~~~~~~ L I Z Z Y ~~~~~~~~

This is Lizzy!!  She is an 8month old black Labrador Retriever that actually came from the same breeder as Aspen; a long time boarder & trainee.

                     Aspen

Lizzy will be here for the next 3 weeks for the Advanced Obedience.  She is a very playful, very sweet, happy go lucky kinda girl.  She has done very well her first few days & lesson here.  She is walking nicely on the leash, heeling at my left side & sitting when we stop.  She will hold her sit stays & today we introduced the down at my side.  She is a quick learner & is moving along very nicely so far!  More to come on Lizzy & her progress!

Skook.....the welcome committee.....but Lizzy held her sit!

She goes flat out when she's in a down :o)

Diamond Update

Ah.... Miss Diamond has been a handFUL the past few days.  She has hit her wall & decided she's not going to listen.  They all go through this stubborn phase & it's just one of those things you have to push through.  Diamond decided she was going to have a full out screaming tantrum, as though asking her to walk on a leash was literally torture.  She made quite the scene today!  After a long tantrum, we were able to end on a positive note & she spent the next hour or more on place processing her unexpected lesson today & enjoying her bone while surrounded by all sorts of goodies that she likes to steal! Here are a few pictures from our lessons!

 She fell asleep after her tantrum outside...

Enjoying her bone on "place" 

On "place" watching me open the backdoor

Pretty girl!

 Stay tuned for more on Diamond!

Gus-gus & His Girls....

Gus is a 1 year old Italian Spinone that is here for the Advanced Obedience & behavior modification for a serious aggression towards guarding items he so chooses to steal & make his own.  He has been here a little of a week & is making tremendous progress!!  He is extremely social with the gang now after a few days of being a bit intimidated.  He has completed his Basic with flying colors; ie: heel with auto-sit, sit & down stays, come (on leash) with an auto sit, no, his release command, let's go, & we are starting his "place" command today!  I have also done some sessions with Gus & his guarding.  All the sessions have made great progress but we still have a bit more work to do.  He is great is a "set up" scenario but I think in an everyday situation he still may want to buck up a bit, so MORE WORK TO DO!! :o)

Gus has also made 2 great friends while he has been here, which oddly enough are 2 Spinones that come from the same breeder as Gus!!! What a small world.....could they be siblings?!?!

Cute boy waiting to go outside

Gus' girls - Pearl & Scarlet

Gus on 'place' with his baby & a nyla bone (& no guarding)

More to come on Gus' as his training advances!!

Maddie - aka Cowboy's Girlfriend

Miss Maddie is making herself very much at home & has even moved in on my man :o)  She has taken to snuggling with him any chance she gets!!  From a training perspective Maddie is an A+ girl!!  She is spot on with her obedience, on & off the leash.  Now we'll just perfect her master skills with adding hard distraction in the mix & see how she handles the pressure of choosing between fun, food, & chaos over being a well mannered lady.....haha.  Sounds like no contest when I put it that way ;o)  Her potty training is coming along; no accidents to report.  She is inconsistently ringing the potty bells but ringing them non-the-less.  She has certainly blossomed over the last few weeks & I can't wait to see her transformation of confidence & freedom over the next few. Stay tuned!!!

~~Stella!!~~

This is Stella!  She is a super sweet, scared girl that is here to work on her social skills, learn Intermediate Obedience skills & learn to be a more confident, well adjusted girl.  She has been here almost a week now & is slowly starting to get the swing of things.  I am going much slower with her than a normal program because she is a little chicken girl about everything & she will learn better if I let her relax a bit first before pushing into more new, scary things.  So far she has learned her manners on the leash; no pulling & respecting the space she has on the leash, heel with an auto-sit, her sit-stays & down-stays.  The rest of her time here will consist of adding a few more commands and perfecting the ones she already knows, continue her socializing the the dogs and building her confidence!! Stay tuned for more on Miss Stella!

Me: "Say Cheese"  Stella: "huh?"

(Stella's sit-stay)

Stella being a good girl & holding her down while Skook teases her

Stella holding her down-stay with the dogs as a distraction :o)

A Diamond in the Ruff....

Meet Diamond!! She is spunky, vocal, lively Labrador Retriever puppy that is here for my Advanced Obedience training.  Her first few days here I have been letting her get acclimated to our routine & just get used to the other dogs. It was a bit of a shocker for her & she was a bit overwhelmed.  Well not anymore. She's a wild woman at playtimes and her training has officially started.  It's going to be a slow process with her not because she's not smart but because she wants to protest most everything.  She has her own agenda & if my plan doesn't fit into that she likes to verbally protest & have what I call her tantrums :o)  But she sure is a sweet girl.  She is an absolutely love & is learning how to great people with a little.....well, a lot less gusto.  Here are some pictures of Diamond's stay so far.  More to come on her training as it unfolds.

She's a run'n fool....

....more run'n.

haha...cutie pie sitting all by her lonesome

Big yawn....tired from playing

Little Mady-girl

Maddie is doing very well!! She hasn't quite caught onto the potty bells but she hasn't had any accidents in the house thus far! :o) She isn't pottying in her crate and she goes outside all by herself & actually has to be called in the house. She loves playing with the other dogs and is doing excellent with her obedience with mild distractions. She isn't jumping up on new people that she's met. The next few weeks I'll be working on getting her off leash around heavy distractions, continue the potty training!

Big Boy Banjo

Banjo is slowly but surely coming along. He's such a big goof & really doesn't mean any harm; he just doesn't realize he's 80lbs of pure puppy. He knows all his basics - no jumping on people, heel with auto sit, sit & down stays, & we're teaching him the place command because his family needs it! :o) This past week I have introduced much harder commands, I'm taking him out to stores (Petsmart/co, home depot) for added people distractions and we've started going to parks so he can learn how to be well mannered around kids. It has been a bit harder to find small kids with it being so hot outside but we're working on it. He's going to stay a bit longer so we can get him just where he needs to be! More to come on big boy soon!

Banjo having a little down time

...holding his down stay

....down(stay) with foooood distractions

& Skook distractions

Yuuuuuuuma!!

Miss Yuma is doing soo well. She is socializing fantastic but that's no shocker. She is doing excellent with her obedience now. After a few days of being a quite little lady she has bloomed. She is beaming with confidence (except during storms...but we'll get to that in a minute) and so happy to please when you ask her to do something. She is now heeling on a loose leash at my left side & sits nicely when we stop, she is doing her sit & down stays with distractions, although she's still mastering the door bell :o) She is greeting people nicely without jumping up and we've started working on her place command. She is getting better with the storms & we have had plenty of them to work on her reaction to them. In the beginning she would drag you under the closest thing to get away from them. Now she will hold her commands such as heeling or staying in a sit or down command but is still trembling. She pants very nervously but is slowly learning to deal with the uncomfortable feeling/sounds of the storms. The obedience acts as a distraction to her wanting to get away & hide. She's coming around and certainly making friends in the process. More to come on Yuma as the week unfold :o)

Pretty girl

Yuma's sit(stay)

Yuma trying to hold her down(stay) but Blue is antagonizing her

Good girl! Good down

~~Meet Maddie!~~

This is Maddie! She is a too cute for words Rat Terrier that is here for Intermediate Obedience as well as socialization & potty training!!! She has been here since Aug 5 and is already making great progress! I gave her a few days to get acclimated with the dogs and start to learn our routine. She has learned to not jump up to say hello, no pulling on the leash, we working on getting her to ring the bells to go outside, and suprisingly she hasn't pottied in her crate at all! (That was an ongoing problem at all). She's definitely getting more confident to go out in the yard to potty by herself! Now we start her obedience along with working on her constant desire for looking for people food when she's in the house. Maddie is also making great friends & loving playtime. She is sucha sweet girl & I'm sure I'll have more great updates as her training continues!

PLAYTIME!!!!

Playtime!!!! We've been taking our playtime in the early morning because it's been tooooo hottt!!

Rayban trying his hardest to get someone to play
Trey chasing Yuma :o)

Rayban found a friend; Maddie!

Maddie & Koko making friends

Maddie & Rayban playing chase...
waiting for me to throw the ball
Yuma, meet Boomer. Boomer, meet Yuma :o)
Sophie, Trey & Banjo.....the three amigos
Run, Oliver!! RUN!!!
Yuma & Ollie
The three amigos, again
Yuma, Oliver, Sophie, & Banjo
Sophie & Trey taking a rest
Yuma & Banjo.....smooch, smooch Maddie & Rayban
Jack & Sophie wanna be roomates

There's a whole bowl of water & they want to lick the dew off the deck....