Murphy's 1 Week Progress Report!

This is Murphy!! He's a German Shepherd mix & full of ENERGY!!!! He is going through my Advanced Obedience. This past week for Murphy has been awesome! Day 1 consisted of teaching him right off the bat how to properly greet people. Murphy's idea of a good hello would be jumping in your face, mouthing at your hand or whatever piece of clothing he might be able to get in his mouth. He's all puppy & has been a little misguided ;o) He immediately picked up on the new rules & hasn't jumped since!! This past week he has also learned to not pull on the leash while not in a command, to heel at my left side & sit when we stop, sit-stays, down-stays, & place. He's actually fantastic at come on the leash so I'm going to work more with that when we start the off leash portion. Murphy's greatest distraction has been the cats..... hands down. I've had him at the park & he like to see the other dogs & people but he still stays focused. The cats on the other hand completely captivate him & he feels the need to zone out & think nothing but "here kitty kitty", hahaha. He is actually doing much better having them around. He'll stay on his place now while they walk past him, he's staying in his sit & down stays while the cats are running through the house like wild maniacs. You can see he has the look in his eye that he's much rather not listen to me & run after the cats but he's making better choices :o) Murphy is playing excellent with the other dogs and doing excellent with the new schedule! More to come on Murphy & his here kitty kitty antics :oD

"PLACE"

"SIT"-stays "DOWN"-stay

Amy's 1 Week Progress Report!

This is Amy! She is a 1 year old English Golden Retriever, quite literally from England. :o) She is a beautiful, sweet, sensitive girl; very much the Nervous Nelly. She is with me for the Advanced Obedience as well as some serious confidence building work. She has a bad case of separation anxiety when she's away from people & there's no other dogs or people to "keep her safe" in her mind. This first week with Amy I really focused on getting her comfortable with me & building her trust. She's had obedience before so she understand the basic commands but she doesn't have an affinity for staying when told :o) I polished up all her commands (sit, heel, down, come, no) & intro'd the release command as well as the place command. Teaching her to over-come her fear of staying when told & being comfortable for people to leave the room while she's left in that room is SUPER important for her family. I definitely have my work cut out for me with her. She is very trainable & super smart. She picks up on the obedience aspect without a hitch. Now the rest of my time with her is working on staying with confidence & her off leash work. More pictures & updates on Amy as the days progress.

Amy in her down-stay

Kota's Homecoming Day!

Kota had a wonderful homecoming! She is finished up with her Basic Obedience & she did fabulous. She is definitely much calmer & more focused. Her family should have no problems enjoying the new & improved Kota!! I'll have follow-up lessons soon so stay tuned for more on Kota's progress post-homecoming!

Kota in her down-stay & Mugsy just hang'n out

Weekend Review!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! On the training front, things appear to be coming along well. Kota had a bit of a stubborn streak this past weekend but seems to have come to her senses & is following through more consistently than before! YAY! She is scheduled to go home Wednesday & I'm sure her family is ready to have her home! Neo is doing very well. His social skills are coming along & he's much more confident about going up to strangers & loooves other dogs now. Shelly-belly is doing excellent. Her off leash is great. She's still super excitable & fully of personality but much more controllable..... he family will be back on Friday from Florida & I'm sure they'll be thrilled to have Shell back :o) Goldie, the trainee from last week, joined us for boarding over the weekend & until Thursday so we're super happy to have her back. Her family has done wonderfully with her & Goldie is still on track! The Murph-man went home Friday but will be back to board next week & Duke will be super excited to have him back!! They love each other.
Petsmart trip & a trip to the park is on the agenda for the day. Kota needs to be tested a bit more on her manners in saying hello to people! That's all for now.

EUREKA!

Great lesson! She got it. The light came on & it's all coming together in her mind now!! YAY!

Down Delima.....

Kota is coming along wonderfully in the departments of heeling nicely & sitting at my left side, her sit stays are great, she comes (on leash) fabulously, but her down stinks. She is still needing too much help so today the tough love starts. She knows the command & the behavior I'm looking for now she HAS to start doing it. She is still loving the other dogs & playing wonderfully. So I think I'd give her a B- right now...... :o) But she's still such a sweet girl! More updates on Kota lata!

Kota Update

Kota is doing very well. She's heeling at my left side & stops & sits, she's doing her sit stays flawlessly, we started down at the side yesterday but she still needs work on that. She is getting along wonderfully with the other dogs & definitely would recommend a doggy camp program to help expend her energy at least once a week. She enjoys the socialization, she plays great - - not too rough, & it wears her out :o) More to come on the progress of Kota!

P.S.
She hasn't counter surfed yet. She's been too interested in the dogs & the cats. I'll try to set her up for it! Ta-ta for now!

In Loving Memory of Maddie

I just learned that one of my trainees & regular boarders, Maddie passed away yesterday. I am very sad he is gone but so glad & blessed I was able to know him & his family. You'll be very missed & are very loved Maddie.

Maddie & his girlfriend, Cammie
Maddie & Ty smooching

We will miss you very much Maddie

:::::Pictures:::::

Shelly & Boomer run'n a muck

Neo..... goofy face
Mo's favorite way to hang out

Hello Mugsy

It's like washing a car

Jake loves his babies

It's a sweater.......... not a hat

Hello Oliver :o)

Newest member, Sugar Magnolia "Maggie"

Hi! I'm Dakota. People call me "Kota"

This is "Kota"! She is sweet, sweet girl that has a mind of her own :o) Although her momma thinks she's a Rhodesian Ridgeback-mix, I think she's just a Hound/Lab mix. Either way she's a sweet girl with a great disposition!! She is here just for the Basics! She will be learning over the next week to have better manners, heel nicely at my left side, sit stays, down stays & come - - all of which is just on a leash for now. I'm sure she's advance into other programs. She was a rescue that her family decide to keep!! She has an older sister, a Golden Retriever, Bailey. She is a little pushy & over zealous when it comes to playing with Bailey & my dogs, I have now seen so she's going to learn patience & how to stop when it's time to stop. She has some other behavior issues such as counter surfing & occasionally grabbing & chewing things she shouldn't chew on. Yesterday she learned to not jump up when greeting people as well as no pulling on the leash & we addressed the counter surging issue (which I'm sure isn't over yet....) She's done very well so far. She's still not focused & her nose leads the way so we'll work on that over this next week. More pictures & updates on Kota to come!!!

Kota holding her sit-stay with toys & other dogs around. Great job!

4th of July Weekend Update

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July long weekend. We had a fun weekend. Goldie went home Friday & was able to spend the 4th of July with her family & on her momma's birthday. I'm not too sad though because she will joining us as a boarder on Friday along with her brother, Chewie, a Schnauzer! It so exciting to have them! Gracie went home on Friday as well. Her momma was so excited to have her home, I'm sure! I as sad so see her go after spend the past month with her & working with her. She's going to be wonderful just like her sister, Bella! For the most part training was low key this past week, so that made for a nice break. Neo is doing pretty well. I started back on his off leash work & more distractions. He's having trouble with the more distraction thing.... especially if it moves quickly & is furry. :oP Shelly is actually going to stay with me until the 17th. She wasn't quite ready to go home & her family was going to Florida until then so it just makes more sense for her to stay here where she's comfortable & continue working on her off leash work! So Chase & Oliver are very happy to have her. It's funny because Shelly & Neo are actually great friends. He loves her & she loves mounting his face, hahaah.

Murphy joined us for the 4th of July weekend & through this week. Mo & Scarlet, the Italian Spinones that I trained a few weeks ago, are back for the 4th of July weekend as well! I was so excited to see them & glad to report their momma is doing wonderfully with them!! Diesel's service dog training is coming to a close soon & he will be joining his new family in a few weeks. Right now he's just in work mode instead of being in training mode. He's learning to live his work now. I'm going to be a sad mess when he leaves. I was there when he was born (1st one to be born in the litter), visited him & his brother Ruger almost daily until he was 5 weeks & have raised him since he was 5 weeks & the longest I've been away from him is a week on vacation. *sniff *sniff I know this is what he & his new momma need though. It's such a bitter sweet scenario. He's going to be so helpful & he'll have a much more fulfilling life than just be a fun pet.

Diesel

Mugy hanging out with Ty & Ruger after his bath

Gracie drying after her bath :o)

Goldie On The Job

Here's Goldie practicing her place command!

Goldie has done much better yesterday afternoon & today!! Thank goodness..... she's supposed to go home Friday! :o) We had a great walk yesterday & she wasn't trying to push the limits. The UPS truck came and I had her on place.... she did great. She let out a little "chuff, chuff" & that was it. She stayed on her mat while I signed for my package & then she got lots of love from me. This is definitely something that should be practiced on a regular basis to keep her skills sharp.

Here's a video of Goldie working on her front door routine!