In typical Montana fashion we’ve gone from having heat on to opening the house in the cool morning and closing it up against the heat. Heat, being hot according to me which is 70F and above. It is 81F as I write this at 5:00 p.m. ish.
But, this morning, it was a wonderful 51F with a light breeze. The light in the woods was stunning. The company was spectacular. I recorded some images and shared them in an Instagram Story this morning. I liked the photos so much, here they are on the blog. All iPhone.
I initially bought a few toys for Emmett: the fleecy bone (now we have 3), a rope to chew and tug, 2 squeaky skins (no stuffing), some tennis balls and some nylabone chew things. All were fun for a bit. Well, the fleecy bone is still THE favorite but mostly as a pillow! But the other toys lost their luster after a bit of play.
Then there was the issue with the antique bear being SO desirable. Thankfully that Bear is tough! But, I had the idea that maybe other stuffed toys would be good and also a Kong and that rotating toys would keep things fresh.
Friday, the order from Chewy.com arrived:
Ok, now we have variety and I thought enough variety that I could cycle toys as the latest is always the best. And I got Auggie some treats which thankfully he loves, so he can participate in the click-treat game.
The stuffed toys went on the rocker.
Antique Bear was put out of Emmett’s reach and yes, I do know that tv is an antique itself. It plays DVDs and hooks up to Roku so does all I need :)
Back to toys.
The out of favor toys live in a basket out of Emmett’s reach and will make appearances as needed. Note the plastic water bottle … it is favorite toy which should give you a clue which way this story is headed.
It took a while, but Emmett finally saw the new stuffies in the rocker.
The moose (brown) won out over the alligator (green) and monkey (brown but with handles).
Yea for the moose!
Kong was a big hit. I watched several videos about how to introduce Kong to a puppy with no Kong experience. I’m not sure Emmett needed instruction. He emptied that little Kong in about 10 seconds.
Yes, well. The overall favorite “toy” ??? Any shoe.
Almost 17 years ago – May 18, 2001 – I brought home Karl, my last puppy. (Bear I got as a 6.5 year old).
Hmmm.
My cat Gus, was about 4.
Same, same.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree or something like that.
Meanwhile…
Follow me, follow you…
Relaxing in the front yard.
Lights out for a morning nap.
Week 4. It had a rocky start and my timetable fell apart. Some training fell apart. I gave myself a time out. For me, when things all seem to fall apart and it doesn’t seem like I have time to do anything but HURRY UP … I find that is exactly when I need to slow down. So, I put Emmett in his play pen, made myself a cup of tea and went into the far room to sit quietly and regroup. That did the trick, all got back on track and the remainder of the week went well.
Everything we’ve learned so far, we keep doing. Pooping has been happening outside. Piddling is mostly outside, but when not, it is on the piddle pads and I’ve reduced the number of pads around. Emmett is growing. Auggie and I love him more every day. Good times!
We started working on Leave It. Different from Drop, Leave it is “don’t touch, don’t take it, don’t even think about it” :). It will be a good thing to know. It will take awhile.
Here is the video that shows how I’m teaching it:
***I’m going to be doing some classes with Emmett primarily to train with distractions, but also so that an experienced trainer can assist with how I’m doing as far as timing, etc. That trainer recommended the site that is the video source: Smart Dog University (Laurie Luck, trainer) . Both the website and the youtube channel have great information and all is easily searchable. I really like Laurie Luck’s calm approach to everything.
***Toys, etc. I’ve been buying all things pet from Chewy.com . Prices and quality are good and they ship fast with free shipping for over $49 order. The stuffed toys are Kong brand and seem very well made. The stuffed toys can be expensive ($12-20) and these were not ($7-9).
I think the best summation of week 3 with Emmett would be that we are all feeling more comfortable. And also PROGRESS – progress on everything!
More comfortable with each other and with new routines.
Emmett’s training in a nutshell: Sit, the beginnings of a sit-stay, hand target, drop (drop whatever you have in your mouth), recall, down. Down was the trickiest. We started working on that on Thursday and it was just yesterday (Saturday) that we got completely there. Sit actually came from work with the breeder. And prior to this week Emmett had learned “go to your bed/mat”, “into your crate”. Outside there is a click treat for focus on me.
This form of training, called many things: operant conditioning, clicker (marker) training, positive reinforcement. I am so enthusiastic about how this works. I am not yelling “no”, all training happens as play, the communication is fast and incredible. In addition to the above tasks, I used click-treat to shape Emmett’s and Auggie’s behavior to more calm, have fun together, tone down the wrestling. If you’ve looked at my Instagram feed and especially my stories … it is pretty incredible how they are doing.
And of note: this method of training is used for athletics, autistic children and many other forms of teaching. There is a site: Tag Teaching
On my Wednesday story, I threw caution to the wind and posted that we’d had success with a schedule (all times approximate) that got us all fed, played with, walked … and me to my desk to work (showered and dressed!!) by 9:00.
This has stuck. I don’t watch the clock, but generally, an approximation worked all week and we continued through the weekend. Color me thrilled!
The little couch. Well, the first days – Yes! But then Emmett got bolder and wigglier and we had some days where it was Auggie and me and some days where it was Emmett and me.
This week, while he is still a bit wiggly, we had several “all together” mornings:
The Auggie and Emmett scene:
We also started working on being together on the front porch:
Ok.
The big deal: house training, i.e. potty training.
It is mostly happening outside.
But …
… when it doesn’t, it happens on the piddle pads.
I’d just bought a LOT of the pads for Bear before he died … I kept them. Thankfully!
Emmett got them immediately. He goes outside when we go out and when he goes inside it is generally because I am distracted and don’t get him out. But he goes right to the pads so I know he is aware that there are appropriate places to go. Making the jump to “asking” to go out … I am confident it will happen and meantime, I am not fussed about the use of the pads.
Not getting fussed, is a freeing part of the positive training approach. I don’t reward inside potty like I do outside, but there is no punishment for inside. Similarly, other behaviors that I don’t reward, I redirect and/or remove whatever from the environment. Because all of the learning is happening with play and fun, the subtle redirect and soft “no” is understood. All of this adds up to a happy and calm learning environment. HOO-RAH!
And in the woods:
It has been another happy, love-filled week with Auggie and Emmett.
I think that Auggie agrees that the “kid” is a wonderful heart healer and great addition to the family Summers
My plan was that week 1 with Emmett I would work 1/2 days and that’s what I told my client/programming team.
I managed about 1/4 time.
But after a little weekend reorganization, I thought: “ok, I’ve got this … normal time”.
I managed about 1/2 time. GAH! I will be eating beans next month!!
I hired some help for yard cleanup with the intent of working a bit this weekend. So far, the yard is beautiful and paid for. Work so far = 0 hours.
My workout routine has gone by the wayside as well but I figure that all of the puppy in and out and up and down and etc, etc makes up for it. I hope.
Seriously, though. The time these last two weeks working with Emmett and Auggie – priceless in happy love as well as a calm (mostly) puppy that is fitting into the family Summers. Auggie deserves a medal for how he is adjusting to Emmett and for what he is tolerating!
I consider training to be a lifelong thing … sometimes a regroup, sometimes a lightness, but always there. I am so pleased with how “clicker training” aka positive reinforcement is going with Emmett. And I have some affirmation from the couple who cleaned my yard and some woods area. Jason and Kay have much dog experience and clicker training experience and they were so impressed with how Emmett is doing. They spent time working with Emmett and me – so valuable to have this kind of experience: new BFF! (***Jason trained a Belgian Malinois for bomb work!)
So. Photos. Proceed!!
So funny. The play is kind of rough, but Auggie is all in.
Oh, boy!
This is the first time Emmett did the “air out the parts” thing. He has not liked being “upside down” in my arms. Is that a thing that they grow out of … don’t know.
Self explanatory.
I bought Auggie a new tower for the sunroom. My thought was to give him a spot to get away from “THE BABY”. I didn’t pay attention to the step configuration. But so far, so good and this is the first time that Auggie used the tower perch.
Sticks are the best chew things!!
Snow is great.
Sun is wonderful and all is good with Auggie, Emmett and me.
Auggie and Emmett and memories of early days with Bear, Karl, Bob, Gus and Zack. It is a wonderful and also bittersweet time!
A week ago, as I write this, I was meeting Emmett for the first time and it was an incredible moment! He was placed in my arms and I looked in his eyes and said: “Oh, Emmett. Do you want to come to Montana and be my dog?”. And he kissed me.
I will never forget just as I will never forget the first words I’ve said to each of my dear pets.
So.
Snippets from this first week…
Clicker training: I cut the training treats in 1/4’s and used those with clicker to “mark” behaviors. This led to Emmett’s “go to bed “behavior”.
The play pen. I increased from 4 panels to 6. Emmett and his siblings were in a 6 panel enclosure. You can see Auggie to the right as a kind of blonde blur.
Auggie.. so funny. He can be anywhere he pleases, but he chooses to walk by Emmett which initiates a follow/chase. I stay in the background. They have had some “boxing matches”. Auggie has raised paws but so far no contact. I am pleased with all behavior!
I added a Subscribe by email option to the blog since I am not posting regularly here. If you are viewing on phone or tablet, the option is probably at the bottom after three blog posts. If you subscribe, you will automatically receive an email when I publish a new post.
I hope to document our training progress but time!! Photos and videos are a bit tricky – I want to take as many as I can and will share but my primary focus is going to be making sure both Emmett and Auggie are safe, happy, fed and that hopefully, I teach Emmett (and Auggie) what I would like them to learn. I put it that way as I know how easy it is to accidentally teach something I did not intend to!
It is so much fun and I am thrilled that I get to have Emmett and Auggie in my life. I will do my best for them!
