May Day Two -- Windows

There are many reasons for us to sit and look out the window or the back door. First and foremost, we sit there hoping that the rain stops. We were pretty lucky today and there wasn't too much to keep us indoors.

But while we are inside, it gives us a good opportunity to work on her barking. This is probably her favorite reason to gaze out the window. She loves to alert when people or dogs are going by.

We are continuing to work on her attention while she's at the window and calling her off the window (preferably before she barks).

So we are going to continue to sharpen her recall and what better time to work on that then when we have a lot of distractions around.

She's so quick at her recalls and enjoys them so much, it makes it very easy to use her recall in other aspects of her life (like at the window).

We took advantage of the weather and the distractions to practice her loose leash walking. Even with heavy distractions she is sticking right next to me with fast movement to keep her engaged and lots of praise and an occasional treat. We work on and off leash (on the flat collar) so she really gets the idea of what it is she suppose to be doing. Any time she pulls ahead (usually towards a distraction), I immediately turn the opposite direction. Her reward for walking nicely on the leash is to go closer to that distraction.

And speaking of distractions, Sia's pal, Rhett, came by for a visit. He is definitely bigger than the last time she saw. I think he was fresh off the plane when they first met.

Sia has to give it one more try to play with Healey. She's still not interested. It makes Sia try harder. Don't worry Sia, she usually warms up after a week or so.

After expending all that energy it's time to work on some down stays. It was amazing how well she settled after I reminded her several times what I was asking of her. Part of her refusal was probably because of distractions and it was taking her a bit to turn off her on switch. But part was also likely adolescence. So, in a calm voice, I firmly said "No, down" and motioned for her to go down. It took several repetitions of this before she finally settled in and then she was very compliant. I just want to make sure she learns to always follow through when asked to do something. That cute, sweet face of hers will sucker me into lots of snuggles with her but she still can't get away with ignoring my requests.