This weekend we were at an agility trial. Most of the things Zane goes to during the week have stopped for the holidays, so he hasn't been getting out as much. It showed! He was a little freaked out by people on Saturday morning. So we just walked around and I handed treats to people and had them feed him. Some he instantly liked; others he would take treats, then get away from them. I couldn't find any rhyme or reason for who he liked and who he didn't. Sunday he was much, much better with the people. "Oh yeah! They have cookies!" I still had as many people feed him as possible.
On Saturday I had two people take him and walk him around and play with him. The first one he didn't want to go with at first, but once he was a way from me, he was fine. The second one, in the afternoon, he did fine with. On Sunday, a friend (who Zane doesn't know) brought her puppy (two days older than Zane). Her pup has some issues too, so throughout the day, we'd just go to each other's set-up, grab the puppy, and take them out. It was kind of fun! Tori was such a delightful girl. She just floats. I love watching her move.
Oh, did I mention that Zane turned 6 months on Saturday?!? It was his half-birthday!
There was an animal communicator at the trial. I decided to take Zane to talk to her. I've known one communicator who was the real thing. She knew things she couldn't have known - no way, no how. This one? A flake. Here are some of the things she said Zane told her (or her dog who then told her).
1. The organizers of the agility trial are flakes. They spend too much time at meeting eating cookies and drinking coke and not enough time working.
2. He needs blue-green algae.
3. Jill (my daughter) is eating too many crackers and chips and too much sugar.
4. I have an irregular heart rhythm and need to spend more time biking, swimming, playing volleyball, and taking him running in the desert.
5. I need to get back to working with the horses. I have something to give them, and they have a lot they need to give me.
6. She said that Zane told her that "they" said his nose is too long and was he ok? What's funny is that Jill used to say his nose was too big! I laughed about that one.
7. He wanted to know where we were going next and what were we going to do. (Answer: APDT trial next weekend.) He wanted to know what would be expected of him. (Answer: Be a silly puppy.) He wanted the "other dog" to go with him, because they have a tight bond and she grounds him.
8. He wanted to know what was expected of him at the agility trial (meet people and dogs and eat cookies.)
9. There was a dog at the trial who was bigger than he is who is a bully. He doesn't like him. The bully's name is Buster, but that may not be what his person calls him.
10. He wants a vest to wear that says "Genius in Training".
11. He has parasites that the medicines aren't taking care of. He needs Black Walnut and Wormwood.
12. He needs herbs for flea and tick control - no chemicals. (We don't have fleas and ticks here.) A whole list of herbs was given.
13. He likes clicker training, but he's about to move beyond it. I will know when that time is.
Ok, that's all I can remember for now. Not a word about his fears or how he feels about other dogs. I asked why is he fearful and what can I do to help. The answer: you're doing everything right and he's ok. Ok, thanks.
He did meet several dogs this weekend, and overall did very well. Saturday morning we sat by the entrance and played Look at That with all the dogs going by. Later, as I was checking the schedule, a small dog came and got right in his face. He didn't react. The next day he met the Terv puppy and a German Pinscher with no problems. He walked through and past and around tons of dogs all weekend with no problem. But Sunday afternoon while I was working in a ring, Jill had him out and was sitting on the ground watching the dogs run. Somebody was letting their dog walk at the very end of the leash, and he got right on Zane and growled and snarled at him. Zane reacted back, of course. I don't blame him for that one, but I hope it doesn't set us back in our training. On a good note, the BAT training is helping. The goal is to teach him alternatives to reacting to other dogs. So we were sitting at our set-up, and somebody brought their Aussie say hi. Zane met the Aussie, no problem. But when he started to feel the pressure, he went to his crate instead of growling at her. When he was comfortable, he came back out. He did this several times. He also gave himself a couple of breaks when playing with the Terv puppy. So he is getting it!
Zane had one issue with getting on the metal bleachers. He didn't like the noise! So we worked on that until he would run back and forth across them.
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