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.