Conversations with a Dog Trainer

This morning I had a plan.  I was going to take Kona to Hollywood Feed for some social interactions.  Since spending all this time at home with the COVID-19 Shutdown, she has regressed a lot on her social skills.  My intention was to do some filming of her while we were out, however that was quickly abandoned.  At first, she did pretty well, she walked with me and would every now and then forge ahead of me but would come back to heel when I asked.  Not once did she try to take anything off the shelves though.  I was very proud.  As we made a loop around to the front counter she caught sight of this sign spinning in the air and she just lost it.  She never once barked at it but she crouched down and her legs were shaking.  We have definitely had a setback.  After a nap to try and get some relief from a migraine that had started making me feel sick, I went out with the pups and found a huge blood smear on my patio at first I thought Ko...

I think the biggest thing I have noticed since being at home during this COVID Shutdown is how wonderful my dogs are, but also how far we still have to go.  I've always been big on my dogs being able to entertain themselves.  This is super important for helping with Separation Anxiety, as well as just boredom busters.  As the readers of my blog know, Kona my Standard Poodle has real problems being away from me.  One of the things I have noticed since being home with my dogs is how much they have chilled out.  Kona used to be very much a needy puppy that barked at me when I did not pay attention to her the second she thought I should.  Read she is a demand barker here.  She has gotten so much better about this, but when we are training she thinks I should be going at breakneck speed at popping treats in her mouth.  But also, that I have severely neglected their training.  I've tried to make up for some of that while being at home with them....