And on the 7th day we were to rest

Today is Sunday, which is supposed to be our day of rest. Breakfast isn’t until 9am however I don’t see how we can sleep in since we still have to get up at the same time to relieve our dogs.I did come back and do a bit of reading after Bogart was fed and I had my shower. I have spent a lot of time with Bogart today trying to improve his sitting and laying. With all the visitors here today he was often excited and distracted so I used these as training opportunities to get him to sit when being introduced to new people and to lay quietly when I was sitting on the couch. He is probably getting a bit sick of all these commands. Yesterday and today he has been giving me some issues on the stairs. He is stopping at the bottom of the stairs but when I give the heal command he just stands there. With some coaxing and praising he does eventually walk up the stairs in a nice manner. I will talk to the trainers about this tomorrow and get some more work with him. I did get permission to take him out into the court yard today so he could run and blow off some steam. After that time, on the way back up stairs, he went perfectly on all three floors.

It was great to get him outside in the courtyard. I had him sit, took off his leash and then said “go play”. Well it was like I had just launched a black rocket. He was off running and break neck speeds. After he sort of wore himself out he wandered around sniffing at everything. It was good because he continuously came back to where I was sitting on the bench to say hello. After about 15 minutes he kept heading for the exit door so, although I would have enjoyed sitting out there for several more minutes, I took the hint and put his leash back on and went through the door.

Right now we have been playing in the room. He has already pretty much destroyed his toy from yesterday. He also liked me throwing the tennis ball in the room. He’d kick it around for himself and then bring it back to me to toss against the wall for him.

We had our first real issue of discipline which was mostly caused by user error. That is me being the user. A friend’s wife hhad given me some home made treats which I had put in the front pouch on my hoody. I forgot they were there but when I heard unusual sounds from the floor I investigated. Bogart had pulled my hoody to the floor, nosed his way into the pouch, pulled out the plastic bag and was proceeding to open it when I caught him. I just said no and took the treats away, putting them in a desk drawer that he can’t get at. However, a few minutes later I heard more suspicious sounds and found him with my hoody on the floor again. This called for a stronger NO and me explaining in no uncertain terms that the hoody was mine and not for him. I think he got it since he did come and suck up to me after awhile. I think he was sucking up although it was me who ended up rubbing his belly. Hmm, who won that go around?

Tomorrow is an exciting day since our new harnesses have arrived. They have a buckle underneath like a traditional harness but also have a clip on the side to make it easier to do up and undo. We are supposed to go for 2 harness walks on Monday. Can’t wait.