9/14

My day started today at just a little past midnight with my son coughing uncontrollably. That was off and on until 7am when we "officially" got out of bed. That kind of start is not the best mind set for training. BUT I actually did work Darcy a bit. My husband has been very annoyed with Darcy's dedicated interest in the garbage, the open dishwasher and my son's toys so I finally started working on the command "Leave It" with her this afternoon.

I put her on leash (for control), pulled the kitchen garbage out from under the sink and walked her towards it. When she was about a foot away I told her "Leave It" and then walked backwards away. It took me through the dining room and almost to the front door but eventually she turned around and looked at me which got her a click from the clicker and a tiny piece of string cheese. The next few times got a little better and after about eight times I couldn't get her to be within a few feet of the garbage. Of course the problem is when she is not on leash so I dared to try it with the leash dragging and with me stepping briefly out of the room. She made a relatively slow beeline to the garbage but I told her "Leave It" and picked up the leash and she looked at me and walked away. We then repeated all this with the open dishwasher with about the same response. We'll keep working and she if Cutie Anna, Poochie Woochie and Cookies (my son's stuffed dogs) will survive long enough for him to grow out of them.

We also had some good experiences with the kennel today. Two times in the kennel that were about 2-3 hours each and when we returned it was only moved a few inches and she seemed relatively calm. We are still doing two stuffed, frozen Kongs, a quarter cup of dog food sprinkled on the crate floor and the Comfort Zone but we will wean off those in time. No rush on that since she could still use a bit of weight on her!

8/31

In addition to this adorable picture of Darcy and our four year old son (don't Pit Bulls eat children???) here's some dog training math:

1 Beggin Strip of work on the agility plank
+ 3 hours in the kennel
= kennel moved 5 feet and turned 180 degrees by Darcy

Partly because of this we decided to board Darcy at Windy City instead of keeping her home with the sitter that will be there over Labor Day when we are out of town. She would have to be in there a minimum of five hours so she would lose her mind. Or hurt herself. It's more money but I'd rather pay that than have a dog that is totally traumatized from being in the kennel so long.

8/30

Living with dogs is all about up's and down's, strikes and gutters. Today was one of the "down" days. No training done at all. The bad part was that Darcy had to be in the kennel for four hours and when we returned she had moved the crate about five feet, chewed the carpet pad from under the carpet and gave herself a huge bump on the top of her muzzle.

I'm doing Comfort Zone in a diffuser right by the kennel, classical music in the room and at least two stuffed Kongs in the kennel. I think we might add some Rescue Remedy to take more of the edge off. Obviously more training too. My goal is to cut up a hot dog a day and throw tiny handfuls into her kennel throughout the day so she is happy about going in the kennel. We will see how that progresses!

8/26

So now that I've caught you up I'll try to go day by day to keep track of the work that I've done with Darcy.

Today Darcy spent a half day at Windy City for day care. With our other dog Bella having such poor socialization skills I really want Darcy to continue to play well with other dogs. Plus she has so much more energy than I have time for so the day care helps with that.

My work with Darcy today consisted of doing a bunch of passes on an agility board that Stacey Hawk gave me to practice with. The board is about a foot wide and four feet long and has the same surface as the dog walk and A frame. I want to get Darcy comfortable walking across this board so the obstacles are easier for her. We just worked about five minutes on it but at the end was walking across with all four paws on the board.

With successes there are always pitfalls. Darcy's trouble being left in the kennel is not getting better but, as with everything, it is my fault for not working on it. Today I put her in the kennel for a few hours and when I got home the tray was out of the kennel, the kennel was moved about five feet and there was a ton of drool (I hope!) in the kennel. I really need to just put her in there for short periods of time while I am home so she gets comfortable with it. But even now as I sit here watching Spy Game on TV I'm still not doing it. I swear after I sign off I will put her in for a second... Best intentions are always the situation!