Microchipping

Wally attended the microchipping clinic today where I work. Bean is already microchipped, the shelter implanted the chip before we we're allowed to bring him home.

Last night I wished that I had a camera ready. Wally looked so cute and contented sleeping next to his daddy. It was so heartwarming to see Wally sleeping with a smile on his face.

Tonight I was working with Wally on his down stay. He got impatient with me while waiting for me to release him in the down position. He took his paw, knocked my hand to the floor, than pinned it managing to take the treat. I swear that he was laughing at me. I think that it's hilarious that I got outwitted by a coonhound.

Bean will come on command and sits nicely. I still can't get Bean to learn the down position. I'm not sure if it's because his hip bothers him.

Progress and Setback

Wally and Bean keep me warm while I nap.

Wally has made great progress with his training. He is starting to walk very nicely on a leash, not pulling and staying beside me. He knows sit, down, shake, stand and can target on command (touch nose to hand). We are starting to work on heeling. The setback is that I have to put off taking Wally to work with me for a while. Wally really despises being in a crate and howled, whined and barked the whole doggy nap time. The doggy day camp manager is very kind and is giving me great tips on working with Wally. She was saying the sad thing is that it's obvious that someone had literally thrown him into a crate using a lot of force. I know for sure that it wasn't his foster mom who took wonderful care of him and truly cared about Wally's well being. Wally waltzed right into a crate for me but snapped at one of the other day care workers when she attempted to crate him later. He had gotten himself so worked up that he also snapped at me when I closed the crate door. Wally will now stay calmly in his crate while eating, dh and I have started feeding Wally in his crate.

Bean will now come consistently when you call him, he loves clicker training. Bean is also strong willed and will try to pretend that he doesn't see me giving him hand signals to sit when we are outside. I stood still with him and didn't repeat the command or signal, he finally realized that we weren't going to move until he sat. I wished that I had timed him the first time we did this exercise, I'm sure that it was a good five minutes.

Wally training

Wally's training class is going well. He knows sit, come, down and stand. He is also starting to walk nicely on a leash. A co-worker of mine helped with the leash training (Thanks "T"). I've started applying some of the same techniques with Bean. Bean is much more stubborn about not pulling on his walk.

I took Wally with me to work earlier in the week. He played really well with a Great Dane. Unfortunately crate time didn't work out very well, he barked, howled and cried the whole time. I need to work on crate training. Dh and I have started feeding Wally in his crate. The next step will be closing the door and getting him to settle down for a few minutes while dh and I go about our normal activities.