Day One Training

My biggest fear with this project is the extinction burst that comes with training. For example: Dr. Yin says to ignore the behavior you want to go away and reward the behavior you want to increase. Yesterday was official training day #1 and I made a training schedule. My first goal is to deal with her jumping up on me when I let her out of her crate. So for a few days I have been ignoring her when she jumps and then loving her and petting her and giving her treats when she sits. Now that it has been a few days you can see the "why doesn't this work any more?" going on in her head. Yesterday's third jump also came with a nip to the back of my arm that was so hard it caused a blood blister. (Which today is a nasty bruise the size of a silver dollar.) I didn't yell out though. I am determined to not ruin this. I stood strong and took the jumps and when she sat I gave her treats and love.

The for the rest of the afternoon I carried a pocket full of her food and gave her "treats" whenever she was good. She lay down on the rug when we ate dinner, so I gave her a kibble. She sat and asked for petting, so I gave her a kibble (and petting). We did the foundations for "target" and how to take treats without biting my hand. It went very smoothly for a first day.

Then at 8pm I was sitting on the couch and Juneau was nosing my hand to try and get the piece of food out of it when Lucy came over. Juneau jumped on her and started a viscous dog fight. If it was a dog her own age, it would have been a nasty spat, but for Lucy, who is ancient and half her size, that was just bad. We got her off of Lucy who wasn't hurt but was scared and shaking. Juneau had a "time-out" in her kennel and everyone calmed down for ten minutes. Then I took Juneau for a long walk where she heeled perfectly and looked to me for guidance. Who knows, maybe I'm gaining her respect back.

Day two starts today!