Good Sit

It got stupid-hot yesterday. Make sure to find shade and have plenty of water when you're out!

We're pushing it now -- moving from being close to her handler for check-ins to being more "free" on a tieback.

This week I’m sharing Lily’s first day at “work” learning how to ultimately play with dogs politely. Now she’s learning how to meet others!

Section four is a big one -- Lily may feel like she has more agency because we are working within her long-line's space instead of her being within 6 feet of her handler. Sometimes dogs will take liberties and revert to their old behaviors when presented with this amount of freedom. The handler needs to be watching Lily for signs of her past rude behehavior and interrupt as needed in addition to reinforcing everything from the previous three vids.

To help Lily practice her new behavior pattern of approach, sniff a few moments, walk away, I'm interrupting her sniffs with only my voice WHILE ALSO marking and rewarding the behavior I like -- she's standing and sniffing. I like standing and sniffing. I also like her not staying too long. So we practice and practice and practice!

Lily has already met my personal dog, Mindy, for when we tested her for boarding. She definitely wants to be friends but can be very rude by charging, snarfing (not a word but it’s the best way I can describe it,) and being physically pushy. Her family wants her to be able to join playgroups. My colleagues who work with her think she has what it takes to be in a structured playtime with others, as do I.