First day of construction. Tom went to the K9 Kountry Klub where we board him normally. It was a clean escape because Michael went swimming and left before the workers got here. It probably won't work out as well tomorrow. Alas. He seems not mind it there as much as other places we've taken him. When we picked him up he was bouncing around but not leaping in the air as high as my head and he was also bouncing over to the girl who brought him out.

When Tom's not around it is soooo much less stressful. My goodness. People can come to door and I don't have to be on hyper alert.


The co-op meeting was here tonight. 6 women, most animal lovers. I worked with Tom upstairs and had him sit on the chair up there and practiced collar grabs. It was a good strategy for him not to react to the noises. Then he got to go down when everyone was settled.


Cindy, my mom's friend, came over with her JRT (or Parson, shrugs). She was very interested in the animal communicator and we talked about that for a while. She's been having the beginning of an issue with him barking at other dogs on on-leash walks. So I suggested we do a session with Opie. Opie and Bentley (the JRT) have met before and there are no issues between them. Bentley pulled to get to Opal but wasn't barking. I'm wondering if it's more excitement to see another dog than reactiveness from fear or aggression. Opal was the model dog. She stayed in her down for a while and then just stood still, not adding to the excitement at all. Good girl, Opal! Another issue is that he jumps all over the other dog's face. I got him to down closer and closer to Opie so that he was right next to her and downing, not jumping on her. It worked then, but it's not a concrete solution. I also suggested teaching a "what's that?" for a calm response. Still don't think I've hit on the right solution. I love working with Buckley! He's so smart, and cute too! I worked on getting a verbal on down with him last week. Usually putting a cue on is the least exciting part for me because the fun part is shaping the behavior and then putting a cue and building distance, time, etc. is a bit of a drag. But I got to start with putting it on cue because he knew down and it was great. Cindy didn't understand why I was tossing the treats when I taught it to him. Down, click, toss treats a few feet away so he has to get up, repeat. She credited the treat tossing with how quick he downs. I'm not sure that's quite why. With my dogs speed usually happens because of a high rate of reinforcement or really great treats or that they're revved up (playing with a toy for example). So, chasing treats might have gotten him in a little higher drive, but it also allowed me to get in more repetitions. I want to teach him some tricks, now, or maybe the 101 things to do with a box game.