Well, I don't want to jinx it at all, but I'm starting to feel good about the progress Penny has made. Aside from a little moment here and there she behaved well on the group walk the other week, and yesterday was the first time she had properly seen another dog since then (just because of where we walk during the week). We met a large black Labrador (called Dexter) and after some initial sniffing with both their hackles up it descended into a game of chase (Penny is way fast and I haven't met a dog that can catch her!) and even some lovely proper playing actually initiated by Penny!! I couldn't believe it when I actually saw her play bow to the other dog!! She also said hello to a bichon and a small spaniel with a few hackles but it was quite a polite greeting. I think she's just a bit hackly anyway, no matter what the situation. I don't know whether this is because we've reached the middle point between her seasons so her hormones have calmed down, or if my work is finally paying off, maybe a bit of both. But I'm feeling quite confident about her behaviour and that it's going the way I want now.
Re: Feeling Happy Don't worry about jinxing it, it's ok to feel happy! Great stuff, well done to you and Penny
Re: Feeling Happy I'm sure your great work is paying off And more forum group walks wouldn't hurt either. Enjoy the progress you've made - you deserve it!
Re: Feeling Happy Sounds like wonderful progress Lauren , keep on doing what you are doing , well done to you both
Re: Feeling Happy Great progress! Well done. [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=6345.msg83935#msg83935 date=1401607995] I think she's just a bit hackly anyway, no matter what the situation. [/quote] Even Charlie does this - sometimes when he is in the middle of a great friendly game. I think it can be an excitement /alert thing, not necessarily aggressive. There is a vid somewhere on the forum of him totally relaxed, politely inviting chase, and responding to chase invites, playing with a husky, with his hackles a bit raised. I'll see if I can find it.
Re: Feeling Happy Thanks everyone, though I just know that now I've mentioned it and said it out loud, Sod's law is they today we will have a bad day.... Maybe I just won't take her out today...
Re: Feeling Happy To be safe I always say "up to this moment" then you aren't putting a jinx on it ;D
Re: Feeling Happy I'll let you into a little secret Lauren. We are always on High Alert about OUR dogs and OUR kids, so we notice every little thing. Things we wouldn't even notice in other peoples dogs or kids. I know you are working really hard, you may being over critical. We all do it. I'm off to walk Molly, if I see another dog and it stops off for a sniff I'll think that is perfectly natural and acceptable. If Molly does I will immediately think I am not properly in control.
Re: Feeling Happy Ah great to hear you feeling great Lauren and I hope you did get out for a nice walk today x
Re: Feeling Happy Yes we did indeed, and it's typical! The one time I forget to take my phone she does something I would have loved to photograph/video!! I'll just have to describe it instead. Halfway round Penny pilfered an old tennis ball that had been hit out of the tennis courts. So she was chuffed to bits carrying that round, looking all proud of herself. (She's not normally allowed tennis balls as she's not supposed to play fetch and she gets too obsessed with them in the house.) Since she was carrying this one around nicely I let her keep it as a treat. Then she spots a stick... And she loooooves sticks. Usually getting the biggest one she can find but she's not picky - any will do. So for a while she was carrying around a stick AND and tennis ball... Quite impressive I thought! Would have made a brilliant photo. Then we arrived at the corner of the park where they haven't cut the grass for a while and it's almost knee high. Great opportunity for some hide and seek with the tennis ball! I made her wait (had to hold her collar) and threw the ball and sent her to look for it. She was absolutely loving it! I'm so wishing I could have videoed it, it was brilliant! Heading back tomorrow, hoping that they don't cut the grass in the meantime!
Re: Feeling Happy Sounds good Lauren where I walk most days there is lots of tall grass and I play hide and seek the ball with Harley it's fab to watch isn't it
Re: Feeling Happy That's brilliant - wish Lilly would do that. She often can't find it even when in "plain sight" :
Re: Feeling Happy Ok, we went back today and the grass was still long. So here's a couple of videos for you to enjoy! As you can see she has absolutely no idea where the ball has gone but she has such a great time searching for it!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an2rS9w5TQk&sns=em http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67fcoKiKdck&sns=em Ok I'm hoping these links work, I seemed to have trouble uploading the videos to photobucket.
Re: Feeling Happy Go Penny,she's loving that,no tail problems that I can see there today!lovely spot to practice in x
Re: Feeling Happy Yeah she was totally back to normal in 48 hours which is good. If I had the commitment I'm pretty sure she'd make a good gundog... But yeah, not something I've overly thought about tbh. And I'm pretty sure she's too flaky around other dogs to make it in the gundog world.
