Today when I took Zoe out I practiced a recall with her (which she did wonderfully), then I went out towards the mailbox. I hear someone shout, “Emma come!!” I look up and see the golden lab from across the street come barelling across their front lawn and the road towards us. Now I know this dog from experience, though I never knew her name - she’s loose quite often unfortunately, but she’s a big chicken. She sometimes comes a few feet into our front yard to sniff all the Zeeke-and-Zoe-smells, but then runs off when Zeeke barks through the window. If I’m outside she’ll stay at least 20 feet away, just watching. So when I saw her running towards us it didn’t worry me at all. She did indeed stop about 10 feet away, only to creep up another 5 feet. One of her teenaged owners came running as well. Emma was watching Zoe, but is too shy to actually go up to her. So I clucked at her and when she came my way I gently snagged her collar and handed her over to her owner (whom she was evading, because of course owner=going home, which is no fun!)

And that whole time, with a strange dog and a strange person coming towards us, Zoe never even hit the end of the leash! She was on the flexi so she had quite a bit of distance, and she was back a ways, but she didn’t freak out, she didn’t try running, she didn’t hide. She wasn’t even plastered to the ground. She was just standing there, watching. I am SO proud of my baby!!

In class we’ve been working on “come” in a progressive manner, calling the dog with much enthusiasm and running backwards patting our thighs and praising the dog. At the training center Zoe’s “come” is much less enthusiastic than I’d like - actually I tend to lose her attention before she gets to me, because a car backfires, or one of the other dogs move around, or the breeze blows. She’s so concerned about everything else that she isn’t focussed on me - that’s just the way it’s been at class. So a lot of things I wait until we’re home to teach, and almost always that works.

But with “come” when I’d try the same thing in our yard, where she felt comfortable, she came flying all right - right past me. Then she’d zoom in circles around me in unadulterated glee. Which is funny, but not what I wanted. And no matter how much I encouraged her, and how many times I turned to face her, or how much I ran backwards, she wouldn’t come to me. I think the whole exercise was far too much like the chase game we’ve played since she’s a puppy. She wasn’t doing it out of stubbornness or anything, she just thought it was a fun game I was playing and didn’t get the point.

So earlier today before I took her out to pee I went in the cupboard and opened up a new package of cat treats - soft, smelly ones. I figured they were guaranteed to make her quiver with anticipation. I didn’t show her I had them. I let her pee and sniff around the yard, waited until she was occupied, then called her. I didn’t jump up and down and run backwards and pat my legs and praise her. I simply said, “Zoe come!” in a happy voice. When she was coming towards me I took out the treat, held it in front of me, and drew her in to me. She came straight to me, and was given the treat with much happy happy praise!

Wouldn’t you know it, every time after that when I called out “Zoe come!” she’d come straight to me. It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. The third or fourth time I did it I said “Front!” as she was heading towards me, and she came right to me and sat. Just like that, with very little guiding with the treat. I went from a dog who would run circles around me to a dog whose come was in perfect form, in literally 2 minutes.

Well I just put on my treat-apron and put Zoe through her paces in the living room. It’s a good time to do it, middle of the night: Zeeke is in the bedroom asleep, and there are no distractions outside either. She is much more attentive here at home than she is at training class - with no scary things going on!

She still has problems holding a stay. But when we started she couldn’t sit still at all, so this is definite improvement. Usually with an “oops” or two she’ll sit back down. The first few times I tried to walk around back of her she turned to face me, but she seemed to get the picture that I wanted her to stay facing that direction - she just nearly twisted her neck all the way around trying to watch me the entire time, lol! After that she did manage to hold a stay the entire time, which was excellent. I do have to keep my reactions sharp though. Down-stays are harder for her, for some reason… she has this habit of popping back up again. But again, she did hold a stay through an entire 360 walk-around, and with me jumping back and forth 6′ in front of her. I also practiced her “front” - which at home she actually does quickly. At class she did come… slowly, while looking nervously around the entire time.

I’ve asked Den to help me out this weekend, using him and Zeeke as distractions outside. Because that’s REALLY what she needs help with. When she sees Zeeke, her brain seems to fly right out of her body.

Today’s class went well! It started off outside, with practicing walking on lead with distractions. The owners paired off and then practiced walking our dogs towards each other, past each other, etc. The other dogs were all trying to get TO the other dog; Zoe was trying to get AWAY from them. lol But she did surprizingly well, she took it in stride, sat when I stopped, followed along with me. Then the instructor’s assistant came over to work with me and Zoe alone, acting as the distraction: she crouched down and I walked Zoe past her, a little closer each time. Zoe tended to lag behind me when we passed her, trying to scoot around behind my legs to get to my other side. But with verbal encouragement from me she did good at keeping even with me and passing by. We then practiced just walking around the assistant, with Zoe on the inside. She didn’t like that, but again, did well. We ended on a high note.

Inside we practiced our sit-stays and down-stays with distractions. Zoe didn’t mind me hopping up and down much; she did, however, mind the other owners hopping. She was very jumpy and would break her stay if anyone came within several feet of her. She also wouldn’t let me walk around behind her without getting up and turning to face me - I think that was a reassurance thing, she really didn’t want to let me out of sight. So I’m going to have to work more with her on that. The instructor didn’t seem concerned, said it was probably quite scary for her with all the people hopping and walking around the room.

The forklift-hold went well again, though the instructor didn’t try to pet her or anything again today - she wanted to keep it positive and not stress Zoe out, so she just fed her some treats. Zoe really doesn’t mind being held like that; in fact I think she likes it…. unlike a few of the other dogs, who started a full out wrestling match when their owners tried to immobilize them.

After class was over and most of the others had left the building already, one of the other owners stopped at Zoe on his way out and held a treat out for her, which she ate. He then asked her if she’d let him pet her and reached down and gently stroked her head! She didn’t try to evade the hand at all, didn’t back up. That’s the first time she’s let anyone else touch her! I was so proud of her.

So next week is graduation for the dogs! The instructor said it’s always a really fun class and to bring family members to watch/participate. There’ll be lots of games and such. I’ve asked Den to come (and I’ll get him to bring the camera). I don’t know how well Zoe’s going to do, though - it depends how many strange people show up. I’ll be practicing everything this week in the hopes that she doesn’t forget everything under pressure.

I talked to the instructor about intermediate class, she said she hopes I’ll continue on - I sure intend to! Unfortunately with the brother-in-law’s wedding coming up on a saturday soon, and then with me going away to visit my parents for two weeks in June, it wouldn’t be a good time to sign up right now. So we’re pencilled in for any July classes. There is also a trick class that is taught, they said it’s a lot of fun and would be good for Zoe, but right now I think I’d prefer to work on the basics. I did suggest to Den that he consider taking the trick class with Zeeke, though. Zeeke would really enjoy that, I think.

Today Den and I decided to go eat at the Summer House, a restaurant/ice cream parlor in the next town over. They have an indoor dining area, but they also have tons of picnic tables outside. So I decided to load both dogs into the SUV and surprize Den.

Unfortunately it’s been over a year and a half since I’ve ridden in the truck with Zeeke. I’ve forgotten how psychotic he gets. He was doing fine for the first five, ten minutes, but then he started pacing the back, whining and clawing at the windows. Soon as we pulled into the parking lot at Den’s office I ran him into the woods to let his bowels empty, as he has to do after every truck ride. On the way back Den decided he just didn’t want to bring Zeeke with us to eat, he was really panicking (the dog, that is).

I feel bad for Zeeke, but frustrated as well. I really think his truck panic excaberates his bad behavior around strangers, like at training class or wherever we’d take him. On walks starting from the house he is perfectly well mannered. But by the time we get to wherever we’re going in the truck he’s worked himself up into a fit. I don’t really know how manageable this car thing is going to be for him. Obviously it’s not a big enough issue to prevent vet trips or whatever, but it certainly doesn’t make him a great travelling companion. It’s not even purely behavioral, it’s physical as well, and honestly I don’t know which triggers which; he could be getting increasingly panicked because his stomach is upset, or his stomach could be upsetting because he is working himself up. I guess we’re just going to have to aim for small victories right now, and not expect anything big from him. No going to baseball games with Zeeke.

Zoe’s a different matter. I decided to keep her with us after we dropped Zeeke off at the house, as she was doing splendidly and I thought the excursion would be a good step forward. It’s just one outing, but she’s going to need a whole lot of outings in order to help her with this.

In any case, we left her in the truck while we ordered and picked up the food, I didn’t want to force her into a bad situation with people in line or whatnot - plus we had to pick up the food inside. Then I went to get her. She refused to get out of the truck. The place is on the main road through town, which has pretty constant traffic, so that in addition to the people around (and it wasn’t packed, there wasn’t anyone within 30 feet of us at least) made her decide that the truck was much preferable. So I had to pick her up and carry her out of the truck. It was a difficult walk for her to get from the truck to the picnic table, out in the open like that. She didn’t like it at all. We could have chosen a better table, I think, we sat at the closest table to the road (but it was still over 50 feet away) - but on the good side there were only people at tables on the other side of us. Den and I sat down and I wrapped the leash around the table for extra security, then slid my arm through the loop. For the first while she was a bit frantic trying to get back to the truck, pulling at the leash. Den opening our bags of food didn’t help. But while we were eating she slowly settled down. We paid close attention to her: she was panting with her mouth open most of the time, and would lick Den’s hand when he put it down. After a little while she layed down on the grass beside the table. We offered her little pieces of chicken and bacon from my sandwich, but she took them and dropped them on the ground and then forgot about them. Her eyes nearly bugged out when a car pulled up in a spot close to our table, but she survived. No one approached us. I think it did turn out to be a positive experience - she doesn’t agree with me, but it’s another day she survived being in public without being eaten by monsters.

She was, however, entirely happy to get back in the truck, though. I said to Den, “Compared to being out here, the truck is a haven of safety!” And to think she didn’t used to like the truck at all.

Zoe is the snuggliest dog in the world. I say this from the esteemed position of having owned three dogs in my entire life.

Zeeke’s comprehension of cuddling is shoving his head into your stomach, then possibly keeling onto his side to demand that you scratch his tummy. And if he’s feeling especially cuddly, he may refrain from gnawing on your arm while you’re doing it.

With Oreo I used to wake up with her nose beside me on my pillow. I’d snuggle up close to her and put my arm around her. She’d wiggle further away, but in a casual manner - the cliche’d yawn-and-stretch to get your arm around a girl, but in reverse. She’d allow herself to be hugged and cuddled, but it was just that: she allowed it to happen, and she did it for my sake. She loved me, no doubt about that… she just prefered to have her own space.

Now Zoe, on the other hand… When I get down on my knees and put my arms around her she turns into a huge wiggling body of esctacy. She’s a joy licker - where some dogs lick you because it seems you have salt or other tasty scent on your fingers, Zoe licks for the joy of licking. She puts her ears back and closes her eyes and licks frantically like you might take the object away from her at any moment and she simply must get as many licks in as possible. Licklicklicklicklicklick. She quivers as she does this, shaking with excitement. Doesn’t matter if it just happened 2 minutes ago or two weeks ago, the results of the lick-fix are the same. So when I get down and cuddle her close to my body, burying my face into her soft fur, any part of my body that is within tongue-distance is licked thoroughly. Meanwhile her tail is wagging joyously and her feet beat a tap-dance on the floor as she squirms around.

It truly is an uplifting moment. A Zoe hug is truly like no other.

Today at class I got there first as usual. The trainer’s two dogs (one shepherd and one border collie) ran over to say hi, and Zoe did really well. She had her tail between her legs, but she stayed standing and didn’t look too out of sorts. I told the trainer it was okay, she’s good around dogs. Her 4 year old son also attempted to give her a cookie (following mom’s directions of “hold your hand out and look at me, not the dog” ), but Zoe wasn’t having any of that.

So today in class we worked on our recall with distraction (for Zoe just being there was distraction enough to work with) and our long sit-stays. Zoe did well today. She laid beside my chair all relaxed for most of the class. At the end the trainer put a bucket of smelly yummy food in the middle of the room and we got up one at a time to work on “leave it.” Zoe only needed one correction, and she avoided the bucket. But mainly I was proud of her for walking around in the middle of the room with all the other dogs around, and not panicking. When we were all outside lined up to do our recalls, we were standing pretty close together and Zoe again did really well, just sat beside me.

At the very end we practiced our holds - some dogs get very annoyed when the owner tries to hold them still, but Zoe’s excellent and has never minded me manipulating any part of her… I can pick her up, pin her on her back, clean her eyes and ears, whatever, she’s great. Then the trainer and assistant came around the room to treat each dog while they were in the hold. Zoe took the cookie!! Right from her hand!! I was thrilled! That’s a first for Zoe - she’s never done that in class before, never taken a treat from a stranger. She actually was pretty relaxed about it, too. I think she felt more confident because I was holding her… I just really got the sense that, with me hugging her to my body like that, leaning over her, she felt safe. In any case, it was a huge step for her.

I’m so proud of my baby-girl! But now we’ve got to kick it into high gear to get prepared for graduation in two weeks! I completely intend to move on to intermediate class with her.

Ew ew ew!! Today when Den came home he was petting Zoe and saying hi when he says to me, “What’s this on her skin?” At first I thought it was just a fur clump, but then we parted the fur back and it was a tick! Yuck!! It was on the back of her head, top of her neck. So I held her still while Den got some pliars and pulled that bugger out. *shudder* It was so disgusting. Then we had to check the wound with tweezers to make sure we got everything out. I was SO proud of Zoe… it obviously was not fun at all, and probably hurt a bit when we took it out, but she stayed right there and let me hold her head still while we did it all.

But still, gross. Guess it’s time to start the dogs on the K9 Advantage. The only problem is that it’s not good for cats, so we’ll have to keep Jojo seperated from Zoe for a few days after we put it on them. (He doesn’t go near Zeeke at all anyways, but with the way he bites Zoe it would definitely be a problem!)

Tonight for the first time I managed to train both of them at the same time - without disasterous results. The first time I tried that I ended up with two dogs half-listening, then getting impatient and frustrated and jumping all over me. Not exactly what I wanted. (I preface commands with their name, and first they didn’t realize the difference.) Today was much better. I put Zeeke in a down-stay while I worked with “touch” and “down” with Zoe (what we’re doing in class). She did really well, though she’s still not positive what “down” means - but she’s downing on her own without guidance from me half the time. (My hand is still in her collar at this point to enforce/guide.) Zeeke did try getting up a few times, but after the first time he’d go back into position without me having to move towards him (me just correcting with “eh” ). The only problem I had was with the word “okay” - Zeeke figured I meant him! (And I have no idea how to differentiate that. I’ll have to ask the trainer.) Zoe’s “touch” is pretty good now, she knows what I mean when I ask it. She seems to enjoy doing it, too, treats or no treats.

At class yesterday Zoe was a bit spacey. Usually she’s the one laying calmly while the other dogs act up - yesterday it was the opposite. The big doors were open through the class, and she spent pretty much the entire time we were inside panicking about the noises and trying to look outside. *sigh* During her stays she wouldn’t look at me at all, she was too nervous. She finally settled at the end of class. She did pretty well with walking. She wasn’t pulling, except when I walked directly towards the truck. She was lagging behind me sometimes though, and the instructor suggested I use “touch” to bring her even with me.

Yesterday afternoon I went outside in the sun with all the grooming tools and gave her a good groom. Surprizingly, I got extremely little fur off of her, and what little I got was from the undercoat in her shorts. The fur on her shorts is so long, like Oreo’s - it must be 5 or 6 inches long. It’s crazy! Her tail too, for that matter.

Today I am sitting outside in the sunshine with my laptop, Zoe by my side. I didn’t want to let her run loose while not occupied, but I also didn’t want to just tie her to my chair. So instead I clipped the 25′ training lead to her collar and am letting her drag that around. It works pretty well too. Without a leash on she’s prone to running into the woods (which are our property) and cavorting back there without paying too much attention to me. With the leash on I’m able to walk over and step on the end if she “forgets” to pay attention.

She’s doing really well, too. She’s enjoying being able to walk around and explore the yard, something that unfortunately she doesn’t get to do very often at all. (If she’s off-leash she’s actively playing with me, not exploring.) She’s staying in the yard, and coming over to “check in” with me every few minutes. She’s really just so well behaved. She reminds me a lot of Oreo when she was younger - eager to explore, but not willing to venture too far from mom’s side. Oreo never lost that proclivity. I hope Zoe doesn’t either.

She’s really everything I wanted in a dog. I love being able to just spend time with her, to do things together, without it having to be an active struggle or challenge. We’re quite happy just sitting in the living room together, or, like now, enjoying our yard together. I really think that’s what the dog-human bond is all about.