Practice Outside Today

I've fairly well determined that most of Charlie's crazy barking on leash/tether is due to resource guarding. He never actually seems to really go over threshold, even though he acts crazy - lunging and barking. He was able to HAPPILY respond to his rescue recall word after acting out several times. I rewarded each rescue recall with lots of treats followed by basic obedience skills to keep him busy. He never once ran back to look for what set him off - BIG CHANGE! Whoo Hoo! At least I'm getting some sort of handle on this. I find it so interesting that he can shut the reaction off so fast, and respond with happiness to commands following the incident.

We're also working on our more general recall. With few exceptions, that's coming along nicely as well. Most of the time (the incidents above), I was able to redirect the monster mutt with a "come" followed by a toy reward before he started his resourcing guarding this evening. Once the barking started, the rescue word had to be used (at least we're getting in some good practice outside).

The big news is the change in Sheila! She's now seeing a vet that deals with traditional western and alternative eastern medicine. Following acupuncture and herbal supplements daily, she's a new dog. She's back to running, jumping, playing like she did years ago. All of this and she hasn't had any pain meds for a week and a half!

Another note: I have both dogs doing unison tricks for their nightly treat. Even John said its impressive.