Rhiya and I went walking again Monday night since Sunday had gone SOOO well. Again, I loaded up the treat bag, put on her halti head collar and we headed out. She is getting more focused on me since I have tried to switch things up a bit by turning around without much, if any, warning, stopping to make her sit and do some tricks, and constantly talking to her while we walk. I'm sure others who are out can hear us and they may think I'm crazy... Good, I am! :-)
Again we passed by several houses and yards with dogs barking. She would look at the dog, while panting heavily, and then look back at me. I'm so proud of her I can hardly contain my excitement. We only had one Bark for the entire 2.15 mile walk on Monday night. It occurred while we were walking past a house and a schnauzer was barking and charging at his fence. Rhiya and I were on the other side of the street from this dog, and the minute she saw him charge the fence she Barked pretty loudly. I quickly responded with a "Leave It" command and we turned around to head the other way. She was still looking at the dog and then looking back at me, but she didn't make any other noise at all. we were able to re-approach and pass by the house with the schnauzer.
I'm still continuing to work on the C.A.R.E. protocol in that whenever she looks at a dog and doesn't bark she gets a treat and a "GOOD GIRL!!!" we are keeping our distance right now to make sure she can stay under threshold, but we will slowly move closer to the triggers in hopes of making more progress. She is such a smart dog, and I am so lucky shes in my life. That may not make much sense to some of you, but she has taught me so much.
Here are a few pictures from our Monday evening walk.
 |
| sitting pretty, waiting to cross the road. |
 |
| Looking at the Horses... last time she saw them she freaked out. |
 |
| all great walks end with a visit to the watering hole. |
No comments:
Post a Comment