MONDAY, OCT 11, 2010
I picked her up late Monday afternoon on the way home. She grew! I can't believe Auntie Lynn let her get bigger. Her legs are longer and she looks to my eye to be really nicely proportioned. She's more active - as if that could be possible - but maybe the better way to say it is she's more active in a more focused way.
After I got the other dogs and got everyone settled in, I laid on the couch to watch TV with Rosanne on my lap. I was flat on my back with her in between my legs laying up on my stomach. In that position we did **45 minutes** of captured eye contact!! Wow! I was using little cubes of Rollover and breaking them into fourths.
Once I ran out of treats, she stayed with me on the couch for an hour and 15 minutes more - two hours total. She wasn't totally exhausted but just very relaxed. She changed positions - sometimes on the ottoman, sometimes on me, sometimes at my feet. What is particularly nice about this is that it's very important for me to be able to crash on the couch when in pain or exhausted and know that my dogs can "find a hole" and just settle in themselves. And there was Rosanne - fitting right into her own manner of settling. One of these days I should put a cue to that - though I think my physical condition is probably noted as a cue. Marcus and Joey have always been distinctly different when I am exhausted and need to not move for a couple of hours.
TUESDAY, OCT 12, 2010
This morning I took Rosanne out to potty on leash. I went out the door ahead of her, looked back and she was sitting in the doorway. Lynn had told me how the weekend's rainfall had been a shock to her as far as "what? me go outside to pee - it's wet out there!" But she wasn't sitting there as if resisting going out. She was sitting there with that special way that clicker dogs do things - as if they are dead certain this is the right thing to be doing.
I hadn't taught her to sit at doorways and it didn't appear that Mary had either. I released her with "OK" and she trotted right on out. Later I asked Auntie Lynn if she taught her to sit at doorways. Lynn had - in a way. Her four dogs have to sit before going out so Rosanne just joined in and sat with them. Isn't that precious!? She generalized this to our house.
Rosanne had some yard time with just Joey this morning - not any real change in their activity together. She had some puppy play time with me followed by a nap. After her nap, I took her out to the sideyard to have a run-about while I picked up poop. Next on the agenda was time in her Puppy Palace in the kitchen while I went back outside to mow some of the yards.
She is definitely chowing down her food much more now. She's also chomping on chewies that had previously been too tough for her. She still isn't into the rabbit feet though - the ears go quickly but the feet, not at all.
Rosanne has had several brushings while relaxed on the couch with me at night. It's much easier to start brushing when the puppy is in a naturally relaxed state. I do need to do her nails. I totally forgot all about that in the first week or so I had her!
It is so good to be back home with my dogs. Rosanne and I have finally arrived at a rhythm for work, naps, potty breaks and such. She's such a good little girl. :) My current system is for Joey to go out by himself and Marcus and Rosanne to go out together. That is just enough complexity for me to be successful. :) For work time, she's in my office with an X-pen blocking part of the area. That allows the other dogs to be in the office without being closed in. Joey's happy with this arrangement now. He comes in and lies down on his side of the X-pen which is much better than standing in the middle of the room looking miserable.
Today we worked on re-orienting to me after going through doorways as a captured behavior - just the bare beginnings but cute nonetheless. I discovered something she will chew for an extended period of time - one of the chew bars that comes with the Occupi toy! Finally something to keep her busy for a while - a miracle!
We did a little bit of work on a left spin. I have been targeting her through the spin and fading back on the target. Today we used just a bit of target, she completed the spin on her own, click/tug with a raggie. This was our first use of the game of tug following the click while working on a trained behavior. VERY cool! It's a big deal with me that my dogs can work for food or toys following a click and for them to be able to switch from one to the other. So here we are: Rosanne's first experience at click/tug - and very successful!
We again had a nice couch/TV time - another bunch of click/treats for eye contact while on my lap (captured eye contact). I then switched to capturing her chin resting on me. That was becoming an intentionally offered behavior. I gave her a chewie and she switched to laying on the ottoman which gave Joey an opportunity to resume his normal place draped across my lap. A very nice evening!
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