The last week has been very busy. I’ve had lots of enjoyable company, including a couple of houseguests. Lila has loved it. Yesterday, after everyone left, she slept all day and evening. Today, of course, she wants to play again.
We went to our last obedience class for this session Monday night. Lila aced it! I was so happy! I’ve finally learned how to work with her high energy personality. It’s clear to me the clue is to stay calm myself. It’s very important for the dog, especially as she is so easily excitable.
We had to do an exercise involving walking across the room with our dog, leaving her with the instructor, walking back across the room and leaving for one minute, then coming back, getting the dog and walking back to our seats. Lila didn’t mind being left but when I came back she was a bit jumpy and nippy. Instead of reacting like I usually do (getting upset), I calmly told her to sit. She did and then we could continue walking back to our seat.
Outside of class I’ve been doing major training with her. Going to the supermarket and having her sit/stay with lots of people walking by (and talking to her) as well as not letting her go in or out the door before me (having her sit and wait) and sometimes bouncing a ball in front of her while she is told to sit/wait, etc. It’s paying off. There is nothing aggressive about her. Just a lot of energy.
At the end of the class, Brenda, the instructor, asked me if I felt like giving up at times. I said no, I just thought she would kick us out of the class. But we’ve come a long way and can now go into the advanced class in October.
Posted by leya at September 21, 2006 04:30 PM