Progress

Yesterday was our last day of dog training.  Since we missed last week (I had the flu), we got to go early and Sandy worked with Maddie on leash training for 30 minutes.  Maddie is doing so much better with the halti/leash.  She has stopped fighting the halti most of the time, and will walk with a loose leash like she should.

Here's a shot of her with Sandy:

Both Sandy & Val remarked on how much weight she's lost, and how good she's looking.  I think Maddie knew it 'cuz she was prancing around at one time like..."look at me Mom- I'm looking good"  We were all laughing at her.  I think the grain free diet that I switched her to along with the 5 miles of walking everyday are doing the trick.  

She's getting really good on "go to your bed" and stay.  In fact, one day I grabbed the cheese (treats) and she immediately ran to her crate/bed without me saying anything.    We were supposed to teach a trick, so we've been working on "shake", because I thought that would easy. Ha ha ha.  Still got work to do on that.   The gals might offer an advanced obedience class , which they seem to think Maddie would be ready for.  We'll see.  I'll definitely book some playdates with Grady (Sandy's yellow lab) when the weather gets better.  

We watched the Westminster dog show the other night.  She was fascinated by it.  At one point, she was up on her hind legs with her nose touching the screen.  Really cute.  

She also sent birthday wishes to a friend of mine:

On tap for this week:  A date with the groomer.  It's bath time, and nail cutting time.  Should be interesting!!

Maddie = 1; Halti = 1

It's been a very interesting week.  After extreme frustration with leash training, I bought a Halti, which is a type of head halter for dogs that stops them from pulling.  It looks like this:

It's like a horse bridle.  The strap goes over the dog's nose, which immediately makes them more submissive, as this is what the mama dog does with her mouth to calm them.  Maddie jumped, and bucked, and threw herself around and around when I first put it on her. (so much for calming her down)  She did everything she could to get it off.  But it works.  She stopped pulling, and walking her was now pleasant instead of a chore.  

Not so fast though....  I came home thursday and found the halti on the floor.  The clasp had been chewed apart and was ruined.  She had gotten into the basket, pulled the halti out and proceeded to kill it.   

I bought another one from the trainers on Saturday, and we worked with her for a good 30 minutes on walking like she should.  No sniffing, no pulling, no throwing herself on the ground to try to get it off.  That's what I'll be practicing this week with her.

Maddie with her new halti - you can see how excited she is to have it on.  She immediately lies down and looks like she's pouting.   I'm also using a double training leash.  It's hooked on her collar and on the halti under her chin.

It's a gorgeous day, and we got Raymond out for a bit of a walk too.

I hate this thing and refuse to enjoy myself.