Hugs and Leave it!

GB had another rough day at school and as soon as she walked in the door, she was calling for Ellie and Ellie came running. They enjoyed cuddling. As far as training went, today I scattered little pieces of treats on the floor, and worked on leave it. Ellie picked up on what I wanted quickly and with an occassional wistful look, she left them along.

Ellie and GB are doing fine- I needed to change.

Joe and GB took Ellie out to play with her kong ball this afternoon. Boy, can Ellie run. When Ellie first came home, she was a one sport dog- tennis ball. Now she plays with her squeeky green bone, her blue rope tug, and her kong ball. The kong ball gives her much better exercise, as it can be thrown a lot further.

Ellie and GB's training sessions had slowed down to a crawl, until I realized what was missing was Becca. Not that we need Becca herself, but we need 2 adults for these training sessions- one for Ellie and one to support GB's efforts. GB couldn't keep the commands straight or reward at the right time, which confused Ellie to no end. Once Joe supported GB, by making sure which command she was working on and prompting her to give the reward as soon as Ellie complied, the training went much smoother and GB felt much more successful. She looks so normal, it is much too easy to ignore her limitations.

Hard at Work

Ellie is doing well with her public access work and following my commands, but we are still along way from GB being Ellie's girl. Last night I got out the hot dogs and we played "find GB". It took Ellie a while to figure out that GB was the ONLY source of hot dogs, but once she did, it went very well.

This morning, after GB fed Ellie and Joe took Ellie out, GB and Ellie watched TV and snuggled before school.

 

We are making progress!

Our First Scary Moment

Just after dinner, Ellie was curled up in her bed, sleeping. GB put her nose right on Ellie's nose and yelled loudly. Ellie startled, scared GB, who then jumped back and it looks like she bit her lip in the process. GB also scared one of our Maine Coons, Sasha, this morning. The bleeding only lasted five minutes, and we spent a lot of time talking to GB about how it is not only unkind to scare animals, but can be dangerous. I was right next to GB and Ellie, but wasn't ready. From now on I will be ready.

Back to School

GB went back to school. Ellie and I took advantage of the empty, quiet house. We worked on stay and were 90% successful (18/ 20  times) at 10 feet for three minutes. We spent 3 hours doing public access work and after resting in front of the fire, went outside to play with her Kong ball. GB came home with 4 sheets , both sides, for homework. My email to her teacher went unanswered, as she was ill today  and there was a sub. Time to set up a CSE meeting again. Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how Ellie can help GB get her math done.