Diary of a Mad Housedog: Ellie's post board and train

Justicemom said:
I so glad Ellie to adjusting so well. Sounds like when she realized the dramatics weren't going to work she fell in line. Keep practing. Sounds like you're on the down hill side now.:smile2:
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I think once she was at home and was in the backyard with Mom and Dad, it made a huge difference.

The majority of her screaming was when the trainer was showing us what she had learned in two weeks. Ellie had not seen us in two weeks and she saw us (she was looking out of the corner of her eye). It was hard for her to pay attention to the trainer when she saw mom and dad on the porch. It was really stressful for her. She was screaming for the most part because after a short amount of time of doing everything well, she just had a hard time concentraiting because she wanted desperately to be with us so she started pulling out all the stops--i.e., screaming. Part of the whole training exercise was, of course, to work with distractions and pay attention to the handler no-matter-what, but that was extreme. OKOKOK, yes, I am making excuses for her, lol. :wink2:

Now that she's home, she has tried to get her way and test the limits. She is getting comfortable now knowing that we know how to control her and correct her and help her learn. She is getting much better at knowing what to expect and respecting us. We are getting better on working as a team of help her. She IS a very, very smart dog. She is startig to be a pleasure to work with.

Patience, patience, patience. :smile2:
 
All I can say is YAY! I know she's not 100%, but she has gotten so much better in just the past 3 days! I'm so happy for you, your husband, and Ellie!
 
The scenes with the terror dog is amazing to hear about, especially because I remember the BEFORE scenes... Poor little girl ;) Laughed at the gtowl followed by tbe bounce in her step, LOL She's still the same dog, just better, apparently LOL

Good thing you guys never give up on her, and keep doing the training, good for you guys
 
You know, in the long run, Ellie is going to be a much more secure Sheltie knowing her boundaries. She really has to be one smart cookie to learn so quickly that the "home rules" and the "school rules" match! :wink2:
 
Wow such a testiment to training and patience. I love that "thank you" would love to try that one. This is so heartwarming.
 
Day Three and Four

Day Three:

No distractions out in the backyard, so Ellie was prefect on her "drills." She has such a bouncy, happy prance. She watches me and smiles when we walk. I only lose her attention for a literally a second or two at a long stay. All I have to do is say her name very softly followed by "watch me" to get her back. On the inside, we scored 100% on everything. It's a miracle.

Day Four:

Tonight I cried. She had the day off because my musician husband had a HUGE gig at a HUGE Venue (an outdoor festival). I was at work all day, he was busy rehearsing. I went and watched his show and came home and Ellie and I hung out together. I cried when Richard came home. He came in through the dreaded FRONT DOOR. He opened the door and swung it wide to bring in his equipment. Ellie ran to the edge of the carpet (where she has been trained to wait)--AND SAT. Richard brought in five pieces of heavy euipment with the door wide open with Ellie sitting at the carpet watching. I kept telling her what a gooooooooooooooood giiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllllll she was!! She did not rush him, she did not get under his feet, she did not jump up and down, she did not nip at him, she sat and waited. When Richard got done he walked over to her and bent over and praised, praised, praised her. She got a treat for that. I cried. :sadsmile: I coudn't be happier.
 
Day Six:

Everything has been going very well until today. With me, she has been exceptional. Today is an off day for her and we have had many struggles. Richard still has trouble getting her to respect him. He was doing the drill today and she ran off twice during a down-stay!!! She hasn't tried that since we got home. She also decided on two other occassions during the drill that she didn't have to remain in down-stay or sit-stay when he walked away. She was more interested in seeing what I was doing. Also, every single time Richard is doing the drill, at some point--and sometimes numerous times---she decides either to bite the leash or lag back for a half-a second and bite at his heels. To his credit, Richard is excellent of following the guidelines the trainer gave,and following through. He doesn't lose his patience and stays at it.

We also had a bad night at the doorbell/open FRONT door thing. Probably because this time it was me who was outside ringing the bell (Ellie didn't know who was at the door until it was opened) and Richard telling her to sit-stay while the door was opened. When she saw it was me, she went NUTS. It took three tries to get her to stay where she was told. Again, Richard did everything correctly and handled her very well.

She is being a pill tonight, but we ended on a good note (as always). Tomorrow is another day!
 
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