More good than bad!

[Noobs]

We've had mixed success with cats lately. One night, Murphy saw one under a truck when I took him down for his last potty of the night, and lunged for it, but calmed down quickly after the initial puff-puff-puffing. The following day he saw one under a car and ignored it altogether - I mean looked at it, lowered his head (so he could see it under the car) and turned and walked the other direction! Yes, the circumstances were different (night/day, 3 feet/20 feet, etc.) so as always I take that into account when I talk about the instances, but the ignoring thing is something he's NEVER done.

A few days ago he saw a cat under a van before I did and went berserk in his former fashion. The leash rolled off my hand to its full 6 feet; thank goodness I normally put my hand inside the loop so I didn't lose it altogether. After the incident I sat him down on a park bench and gave him (and me!) a few minutes to settle down. I gave him a massage, which usually calms me as well. We went home early without trying to walk any further.

The other night L decided she wanted to have a picnic. She prepped the food and our little picnic bag, I got Murphy ready, put his kibble in a baggy, mixed it with some liver treats to make it interesting, and off we went to a nearby park/playground. There weren't many people in the picnicking area, but lots of kids playing handball and basketball nearby. We kept Murphy on his harness and put his leash loop on the gate. We also put a martingale collar on him for safety with the leash looped on to the gate as well. He didn't want to go away from us anyway - he wanted to stay close to the food! - but you never know. On the other side of the gate was a sidewalk, not a very busy one, but people walked by occasionally.

Murphy was happy being fed one piece of kibble at a time while we were eating. He sat down at our feet and looked out at the playground, watching everyone playing. When people walked by on the sidewalk, he watched them go, and as people passed I got his attention and fed him kibble. For the first time in a long time, I saw him have an a-ha moment! After the first few minutes, he perked up every time someone walked by on the sidewalk, then looked at the person, then me ("yes!" & treat), the person, then me ("yes!" & treat). L even said, "Look at him, he thinks it's a game!" And he did look like he thought it was a game! He never once looked stressed. And in turn, we weren't stressed either. It was a nice little family picnic.

In general, he's been able to greet more dogs nicely on our walks. Some days we don't see any dogs on our walks, but when we do, he's able to greet at least one nicely with no incident. And by that I mean I will allow him to greet one or two but not more than that. There is one dog that he puff-puff-puffs at when he sees it, but I am familiar with that dog - he does not like other dogs and routinely stares any dog down that he sees, and the owner doesn't have a handle on it, just tightens the leash every time he sees a dog and shuffles away as fast as he can. Today he greeted a lab/pointer mix and tried to initiate play, but I didn't want to risk leashes getting tangled so we just went on our way. I noticed that he greets small dogs by sniffing then walking away, and larger dogs by sniffing then playbowing and hopping around.

His rash that he got from doggy camp is pretty much all cleared up. He is no longer restless at night, waking and licking himself (did you know if he tries hard enough, he can get around the e-collar?). He is sleeping through the night, in his own bed and not sneaking into ours in the middle of the night.

He is currently learning a new version of high-five where he stands on his hind legs and gives "ten" with both front paws, and we're teaching him to hug us with his paws on our shoulders...one paw at a time with us sitting on the floor. He loves clicker training, so we're just having fun with him.

I am still working with him on the porch. I always have my little jar of peanut butter with me when we're sitting on the porch and I still reward him for staying calm when people pass. When people with dogs approach, however, I still take him behind the porch wall and reward him for staying calm as he hears them go past, but he can't see the dog as it passes. He's not ready to watch a dog walk past our house yet.

[Mattie]

Well done Noobs, you have worked really hard to get to this stage.

[jacksdad]

Ah, that elusive "Ah" moment when it clicks in the dog's head. nice work noobs, keep it up.

[Fundog]

What a nice report, Noobs. You and Murphy are doing so well!

[forkin14]

Woo! good job Noobs & Murphy

[wvvdiup1]

AWESOME! Good job Noobs and Murphy!

[jacksdad]

A few days ago he saw a cat under a van before I did and went berserk in his former fashion.

I think I found a picture of that cat...



poor murphy, those city cats don't make it easy on him do they ?

[Noobs]

You are a devil!!!

[jacksdad]

[wvvdiup1]

Jacksdad, you're "Ba, Ba, Bad to the bone" aren't you!