This morning when I took just Keely out potty, Jackson did bark the entire 7 minutes while we were outside (but he did not bark at all when I was inside, even when I disappeared into the back rooms and made no noise). When we got back to the apartment, I opened the door, and Jackson had gotten the leash untied! But strangely he stayed near his blanket and pad that were right next to the treadmill. It wasn't until a second or two later after we entered that he ran toward us that I realized his leash was untied. He looks like a very smart escape artist just like Jake, but with the right amount of supervision, he should be fine, especially he�s attached to humans. I still think he's either potty trained or close to it. I gave him two cups of Purina Beneful and one cup of Wellness Chicken last night, plus 3/4 small can of Nature's Variety beef (Keely had the 1/4 can). Jackson's stool was normal and firm all three times he pooped.
First thing this morning I drove Jackson over to Atlanta to meet Karen, so she could bring Jackson over to Heather�s house. It was raining pretty hard, but Jackson is sweet with Karen also and had no problem going into her car.
I did call Lensey�s vet clinic this morning, but they said absolutely no information of any kind is allowed, unless the client gives permission. So I called Lensey, and she called them back, but the clinic told her they will only fax the doctor's hand written notes to another vet (not to Heather's work fax). I found out the fax number to Heather�s vet and emailed Lensey back. Heather later emailed and said her vet has received the fax and Jackson did have one dose of Immiticide.
Heather emailed later tonight, �Jackson is here and is settled in hanging out in his giant crate that used to be Marty's. I met Karen here at lunch time and I did give him a 25 mg of Acepromazine (Ace for short, it�s a sedative) so I could go back to work and not worry about him hurting himself. Even though I do not like this drug, I learned just before I got him that he did have his first round of HW treatment, so I didn't want him to be too stressed while I was gone. He was awake sitting in his crate when I came home. He was quiet and still has droopy eyes from the ace. He did not mark or poop in his crate this afternoon. I took him out front on leash and he urinated immediately when we hit the lawn. Karen took him for a big walk and he peed and pooped several times. Of course, she had him in a crate for 10 minutes in her garage and he peed out the front...
He ate his dinner, happily wagging his tail in his crate. I am switching him to Nutro Ultra. It sounds like he hasn't really learned to hold it more than 3 hours, so we will work on that. Of course, if he isn't able to hold it tomorrow for a full work day, I will get a urinalysis on Friday.
He's back in his crate resting now, only seems to pop up when the wacko (Gunther, of course) acts like a nut and screams. I think I will have to Ace him for a few days to keep him quiet and help him get over his crate issues. He does seem to want to get out of there, but since his crate is in the rec room with everyone else, I think the others making noise, barking, play growling and wrestling, seems to scare him a bit so he's good with being safely separate from them. He's going to Dr. Byars on Friday at 10 so we'll have a good plan for the rest of his treatment.�
Keely had 1/4 small can of Nature's Variety beef formula last night (she shared the can with Jackson). Jackson never had diarrhea with the change of food, so I didn't have any worry giving it to him. I gave Keely some to test to see if she's sensitive to beef. So far so good. I gave her a few kibbles of Nutro Ultra (which contains lamb) this afternoon. She had soft stool tonight, but it might be from her eating stuff from the ground outside. So I'm putting her back to Wellness Chicken dry only until her stool returns to normal. Then I'm going to try the Nutro Ultra again.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Heather emailed, �Jackson is set to go into my vet tomorrow for a checkup. He slept through the night on a dog bed in my room. I did leash him to the bedpost so he couldn't get too far and I put a belly band on him to prevent peeing on the rug. He did fine and held it till morning.�
I started leaving the bathroom door open yesterday (with the toilet seat cover down) so Anastasia could use her litter box while I�m at school. When I came home, Keely came out of the bathroom, but nothing in the bathroom was disturbed.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Anastasia started having diarrhea on Thursday. She even had diarrhea three times on Friday. She usually poops firm stool once every other day, so three times in one day by itself indicates there's something wrong. Per Virginia's instructions, I removed her food and put her on a fast for 12 hours (Anastasia is semi free-fed, I add food to her bowl twice a day, and she usually finishes it before the next meal time). And I also gave her one capsule of slippery elm powder mixed with one capsule of Metamucil powder with water. I am running out of slippery elm powder but have lots of Metamucil capsules left, so I decided to give her half of that. Anastasia pooped semi-firm stool late last night, and so far no pooping in the last 12 hours. Maybe it's one of those 24-hour bug thing. Then Keely started having diarrhea this morning, without any warning, no soft stool the day before, just acute diarrhea all the sudden this morning. I gave her slippery elm mixed with Metamucil powder also this morning. If this had just happened to Keely, I would put it off as from her eating stuff from the ground outside. But since Anastasia has it too, Virginia said maybe it's a virus or bacteria infection, maybe from Jackson, who was here Tuesday night till Wednesday morning. I�m not sure if it�s from Jackson, but I am worried about him having diarrhea too, especially if Heather thinks he�s not potty trained. I know it�s very hard trying to potty train and have the dog with diarrhea at the same time. Both Anastasia and Keely have decreased appetite, but otherwise they are acting normal. If their symptoms don't improve, I will take both of them to the vet first thing Monday morning.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Heather emailed, �I actually didn't have a urinalysis done on Jackson because he didn't have a single accident here. He slept through the night each night with no problems. I did take him to the vet for a general checkup and she said his lungs sounded good. He does have an occasional cough when he first gets up, but we believe it is from the HW not a cold. Yesterday, Beth and Walt and I traded foster dogs. They will keep Jackson through HW treatment and I took Cooper, the biggest Springer ever, from them to foster.�
Beth gave me an update on Jackson, �Jackson is doing well. No incidents with our crew. He definitely has separation anxiety. Fortunately, our crew does bother him so he is in the same room with the whole family. I did let him sleep down in the den with me and then I moved him to Walt's office. He whined this morning about 7:30 to go potty. He has not had any accidents and no diarrhea. Jackson is either picky about food or just a slow eater. We will feed him separate from our gang until after treatment.�
Heather emailed back, �Glad to hear Jackson is not being a problem other than the whining. I think if he doesn't get a little better each day/week, we should consider starting him on Clomicalm (it�s an �anti-depressant� for dogs) to see if it can help him adjust. I did discuss with Dr. Byars, but felt considering the HW treatment it was best to use ACE since the Clomicalm will take a few weeks to show any benefit. Jackson ate really slowly here as well. I think he just gets excited about other things and doesn't focus. Maybe try putting some warm water on the food and leave it sit for a few minutes first? He ate the spoonful of wet food I put down right away so I think he must have been fed table scraps or wet food in the past.� I agree with Heather and think Jackson gets distracted when he eats also, because sometimes he would eat very fast at my place, especially the treats. Also, I think he must�ve been well taken care of some time in the past, like Heather said, he probably had table scraps or wet food, because he�s so darn sweet and obedience and potty trained. I�m so glad that Jackson is finally getting what he deserves.
I got Keely two boxes of Buddy Biscuits on Friday night, one mint flavored and the other molasses. I opened the mint box and gave her some treats, and she started having diarrhea on Saturday morning. I really don't think it was caused by Buddy Biscuits though because the ingredient is almost identical to that of Charlee Bear (except the added mint and parsley), and she has been fine on that.
Keely and I got to Atlanta half an hour early than the class time yesterday, so we would have time to walk around in the nearby park to stretch her legs and practice a little more before class started. There were very few people at the park (very few people by Atlanta standards). Keely was a little excited to sniff but she did her basic commands very well.
When we went to the CGC class, which was held at the patio area of a nearby Starbucks that day because the instructors, Sandy and Xalina, wanted to expose the dogs to different people and environment (their class is usually held indoors at their dog school). The Starbucks is located at a busy shopping center, parking lot pretty much full on a Saturday morning. There were a lot of people coming in and out, and there were ten dogs at the class yesterday. Sandy and Xalina didn't tell me that they told the class to dress up their dogs also for that day, so Keely was the only dog who did not wear a costume. In addition to the regular shoppers, there were also a lot of people came for the class. Three families came all out with their small kids (all kids there were around 6 or 7 years old). So space was very limited. I kept feeding Keely treats, because I'm sure that was new and stressful for her, to be at a such busy place with all these people and dogs and cars driving by, and I just wanted to make a positive experience for her.
Once Sandy started the class, Keely and I lined up next to a mom (she brought her two little girls along also) and her Smooth Collie. The mom was talking to her girls and her Collie put his chin on Keely's back, then proceeded to put his paws on her back, as he was doing that, Keely turned and barked aggressively at him. He backed off. It happened so fast, before I had time to pull out more treats for Keely before she started barking. Sandy heard it and came over and asked if Keely had done that before. I said I've never seen Keely doing that in public before. Sandy said if Keely did that again, she would have to disqualify her. But I think she only saw Keely barking at Jake the Collie, I don't think she saw the part where Jake was being dominant over Keely. Anyways, Keely was okay with Jake for the rest of the class, even when he sat on her tail a couple times. Then Xalina arrived and she introduced Keely and I to the class and had them give us a round of applause.
Keely did really well with the accepting grooming and examination. Xalina was the one who did that, and she was impressed with Keely's performance with that task, she said all the other dogs knew her, but Keely didn't, but Keely had no problem letting Xalina touching her all over, pull on her ears, lift her paws, etc.
Then we did supervised separation. Sandy said she would take Keely and Jake the Collie, while I and four other handlers went inside the store with Xalina (Xalina bought us each a drink, even for the kids). I was so worried when I was inside the store, I kept listening for any barking, but there were a lot of people inside the coffee shop and I couldn�t hear anything. When we came out, I asked Sandy how Keely did. She said Keely did really well, except that Keely started shivering when I first left, but Sandy told her to Sit, Down, Stay, and Keely was okay after that. I told Sandy that Keely and I went through six weeks of obedience class and she did okay. Sandy said maybe Keely isn't used to being around crowded place with strangers and she said for the next coming week, Keely and I should practice everyday in crowded area, and take her to work with me. But like what Virginia said when I told her what Sandy said, how am I supposed to find a place in Auburn with enough people to practice?! The only place I could think of is in the one block downtown area on Friday and Saturday nights between 6:30 and 7:30. Really it's hard to find that many people in one place like that in Auburn. Anyways, I'll try, maybe start at Petco and pet supply store, and maybe at the vet's office. I "can" take Keely to work/school with me, like I did with Penelope. BUT after Penelope got cancer, I suspect that one of the triggers was from her sniffing all the chemicals at the lab when she went to school/lab with me a couple nights a week, so I've never taken any of my fosters to the lab with me before, and I'm not going to with Keely.
Then we did the heel. Keely and I got paired up with one of the moms with her Sheltie, Teddy (her husband handled their other Sheltie). She and I started talking, and it turned out she's from California also and is living in Alabama too (near Birmingham). And she said one of her sons even graduated in the same year as I did from UCLA. I guess I was talking to her and wasn't paying much attention to Keely, she pulled a lot as we were walking on the side walk, probably toward my car. After the exercise, Sandy told me that I had no control over my dog, and she asked if I still have a Gentle Leader. I told her that I don't have it with me but I can go get one after class. I told her that Keely never pulled on walks when we were in Auburn. Sandy replied that but she can only judge from what she sees.
For the Sit, Down, Stay, and Come exercises, Keely and I got lined up to a woman with her dog that looked like a small Clumber Spaniel, called Sydney. Xalina told me that Sydney is very nice with people, but she would bit if another dog sniffs her nose, so she said to keep Keely's face away from Sydney's. Sydney's mom looks a lot like Frances Schultz, the host of Southern Living Presents on Turner South Channel, her voice even sounds like her. She asked me how to contact Springer Rescue, and she said she has a friend who has a beautiful Springer, but the friend's kids kicked the dog when they are on swings and the dog had bitten the kids. She said she begged them to contact Springer Rescue for help. I asked her, are there two kids? She was very surprised and I said because I remember a case from last year with the kids and swing. She asked me if it was the Browns from West Point, GA. I told her I don't remember their names, but I do remember it's somewhere near Auburn, so it's probably them. The woman said she has a house in West Point and that's how she knows them, she said the couple has since left the dog at a farm, and the dog is living in a 10 foot by 10 foot kennel outside, almost never allowed outside of the kennel and almost no contact with humans or other animals. She said before they had kids, they loved the dog and treated him like the baby. She said both the husband and the wife are educated and affluent people, but she just can't understand why they would do such thing with a dog. I told her that I think we emailed them back but they never emailed us back. Anyways, Keely was very good with the Sit, Down, Stay, and Come. Once she even sat down on Sydney's tail and I quickly lured her away, but Sydney didn't care. So Sydney's mom was very happy with Sydney's gradual acceptance of other dogs too. We didn�t use our long line and have the dog remain sitting 20 feet away, because Xalina thought it wouldn�t be a good idea if the dog runs to the parking lot.
For sitting politely for the handlers with dogs to greet, Sandy brought out her German Shepard �puppy� Bashi. I saw Bashi last time when Jake and I came for his CGC test. Bashi�s hardly a puppy now! He�s only 7 months old, but he looks like a full grown GSD. Keely had no problem remain sitting politely while Sandy had Bashi sit and we shook hands for greeting.
After class, Keely and I went to the nearby Red Bandanna, and I got her an IQube toy as reward for job well done at the practice test, some canned food for both Keely and Anastasia, and a Gentle Leader. Keely was again nervous at the store, I tried to give her a Charlee Bear treat but she wouldn't eat it. The store clerk asked me if she could give Keely a treat (I said depends because Keely's sensitive to lamb and beef), and she brought Keely a freeze-dried chicken treat. Keely ate that, from a stranger! I was so happy about that.
Then we drove to see Lexi. I left Keely in the car with the windows down, I just wanted to have my attention on Lexi, instead of trying to have to focus on Keely, during the visit. Later we did let the two girls meet, as well as Keely with Lexi�s human brothers and sisters (Ethan age 5, Erin age 9). Keely did growl and bark at Lexi when Lexi sniffed her behind for several seconds (I forgot to take out the treats from my car), so we just kept them about two feet apart after that, and they were fine. Keely was also okay when the kids petted her. Pictures of the visit are on Lexi�s webpage 21.
Then Keely and I stopped by Heather's house for me to pick up some flea and heartworm preventatives from Heather�s porch (Heather had gone to help out with transport of rescued Springers for the day). Her dogs were barking through the garage windows and I picked up Keely and let her see her old buddies. She had no increased interest, but she did enjoy sniffing around the front yard and was a little reluctant getting back into the car. So I'm sure she has a lot of good memories of Heather's house.
Then we stopped by Janet's to drop off some dog stuff. Janet had to work on her septic system so we didn't get to visit with her dogs. But Janet's young niece and nephew were there (girl about three, boy about six) and I took Keely out for them to see. Keely had no problem when Janet's sister-in-law and niece petted her.
Then we drove back to Auburn. I wanted to start training for the stuff that Sandy told us about right away, so before we went home, I took Keely to dinner with me. We went to the only restaurant in Auburn that openly allows dogs to eat on their property (they just started this policy this year). There were a few people there on the patio, just Keely and I on one end, and a group of guys on the other end. Keely was a little excited with all the smells, and the waitress was very nice to her and petted her and said she's very cute. I fed Keely some freeze dried chicken treats that I got from Red Bandanna while I was eating my dinner.
We also started heel practice right away last night. Since for the CGC test the heel will be done in a parking lot, last night Keely and I practiced for 5 minutes in the apartment parking lot. Keely learned in just two tries to keep close to me. I tried the �stand like a tree� technique and it didn�t work for her to do the heel properly (not just walk on loose lead, but walk right next to me). So I did the less positive and more dramatic �walk opposite direction� one, each time as soon as the leash tightened. Personally for everyday life I think walking on loose lead is good enough, but for CGC test we needed heel, and we needed to learn it fast, in a week. Positive reinforcement techniques usually take longer to train a dog than the force based ones, but I think in long term the dog is happier and understands more what he/she�s supposed to do. Anyways, I wish I didn�t have to jerk her leash with the �walk opposite direction� technique (�stand like a tree� is more like the dog jerks the leash herself), but I really needed her to learn Heel with out using treats in a week, on top of more socialization training.
I've realized about a month ago that Keely's a very smart dog. But I've also figured out that she pretends to be dumb sometimes so we wouldn't expect too much from her, which means she wouldn't have to do too much to get what she wants. Even just from last night's practice, she's doing very well, but I could tell that she's not happy that now she has to do all these extra work. Just look at Keely playing with the IQube! She didn�t figure it out as fast as Brenna did (which was pretty much immediate), but Keely did figure it out in about 90 seconds that she should put her snout into the hole to pull the little birds out.
The vet also checked Keely and Anastasia's eyes, teeth, ears, all looked fine. Keely was shivering when we were in the waiting room and when we got to the exam room at first, but when she saw the vet, she stopped shivering. But she still wanted to get out of the clinic. The vet said Keely seems to still have a lot of puppyness in her, and that she seemed to be pampered.
The day this picture was taken, I was so happy that Keely finally felt comfortable around Anastasia that she chose to sleep right next to the cat. I thought, maybe now there�s a possibility that I could adopt Keely myself. Well, the very next day, I was in the bathroom and saw Keely and Anastasia ran across the hallway toward the livingroom. Then I heard Keely bark. When I rushed to the livingroom, I saw Keely had Anastasia pinned down with her right front paw, with Anastasia on the floor on her side. When Anastasia saw me, she let out a meow, then Keely saw me, and Anastasia was able to get away. I don�t think Anastasia was hurt at all, but I guess as of right now Keely still shouldn�t go to a home with cats.
This morning we did 10 minutes of heel, five minutes each at two different parts of the parking lot. My neighbors probably think I'm crazy walking in circles in the parking lot (left, right, about turn every five steps). Also later today I'm going to take Keely to Petco and practice with her more there. Also, for Saturday's real CGC test, we're going to wake up one hour earlier than this past Saturday. I took Keely for our 3-mile campus walk on Friday night and thought that would be enough. But she acted so hyper on Saturday during the test, that for this coming Saturday, I will walk her both Friday night and early Saturday morning before we leave for Atlanta. And on the drive back from Atlanta, I thought Keely would be so tired and would sleep in the car, but she sat up most of the time and looked out. Even after we got back to the apartment and Keely had her dinner, she played with her new IQube toy for about 20 minutes before she went to sleep.
Keely doesn�t like it when other dogs sniffs her behind for too long and would growl when they do. So for her desensitization training, when I take her to the dog park, I keep her leashed and sometimes another dog would come to sniff her. For the first five seconds, I would let her and the other dog just mingle. Then after five seconds, I know her limits, so I would show her a treat, and then take two steps away and tell her �Keely, Here!� Keely would walk away from the other dog and toward me. This interrupts the other dog from sniffing her and would prevent her from growling. If the other dog follows us, I would give her another treat and say �Let�s go� and walk away with faster pace. By this time, the other dog�s owner would call his dog away. Keely is so smart and actually has learned to look at me and ask for treats after the other dog just sniffs her for five seconds and leave at the dog park, she would look at me like asking for treats, because she knows she gets rewarded when another dog sniffs her.
Jackson and our gang have not had any issues. I have been letting Jackson hang out in the bedroom with us at night. He is doing well with that. He usually sleeps just inside the bathroom door.
Oh, thanks for the offer of the comfort zone. I think we are ok, but,
Jackson's next (heartworm) treatment is March 15.� Also I mailed Beth the half bottle of Comfort Zone for her to try on Jackson to see if that would help alleviate the separation anxiety.
Janet emailed me and said that the Brown�s dog that Sydney�s mom and I talked about was probably Henry, the dog she kept for a week or so, before she adopted Boo. She said it seemed to her that the Browns loved Henry very much too, and she�s sad about what�s happening to Henry. But she reminded me that they did contact ESRA and Heather had somebody email them more about it, to see if the problem can be solved by simple behavior modification of the parents (more supervision, i.e. keep the dog inside the house when kids are playing on the swing), of the dog (neuter and obedience training), or of the kids (tell them not to kick the dog), because unlike a lot of owner relinquishment cases, they were not lack of money or space. But the Browns never emailed back.
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
I got Keely a new pink sweater on Monday, one that fits her just right (Penelope's fleece PJ is too big). Then when we were at the pet supply store, the store owner/obedience instructor/petsitter, Rebekah, invited us to go to class to practice more for CGC test. So we were in class Monday night, then for two back to back classes last night. Also I started putting Gentle Leader on Keely. Keely definitely feels like I'm grabbing her muzzle when she has the halter on (she has this depressed look on her face with the Gentle Leader on), but she's doing better. I try to make sure there�s no negative experience while she�s wearing the Gentle Leader. And the first time she wore it, I gave her some treats. On walks, I would do the middle five minutes or so with Gentle Leader on, and she would heel very well with it on. So if she wears it during the test, I don�t think there�s need to practice too much more heel for the test. Monday night�s class was their first class, so we didn�t do much of obedience training in class, we just sat around listening to Rebekah�s expectation of the class. It was a great socialization opportunity for Keely though. From previous experience with Rebekah�s obedience class, I knew she does not train with treats. But before class started, to get Keely used to the room and around the unfamiliar dogs, I did feed her a lot of treats. Then when Rebekah came into the room, I put the treats on the shelf outside. However, during the class, Rebekah said although she is not going to teach training with treats, she doesn�t mind it either if the handlers want to use treats (previously she frowned upon handlers who use treats). All dogs are still supposed to wear choke chain or Gentle Leader to class though. But Keely got off wearing one this time and I had an excuse because we didn�t know we would attend this class until five minutes before it started. There were four other dogs in the class, two Labs, one Standard Poodle, and a small dog. Keely was the most calm of the five dogs of course. Even before class started, one owner asked me jokingly, �Are you sure your dog needs to take this class?� Monday night class and first Tuesday class Keely wouldn't sit or down at all in class. We tried again and again, but Keely would still only do it when I show her the treats. Since we are not allowed to use treats during CGC tests, I just made her sit by pressing down on her behind. She wouldn�t Down on command either of course, so I just scooted her forelegs forward each time when I told her to Down and she just stood there.
Tuesday�s classes were both their sixth class, and first class of the night had eight other dogs, three Labs, three small dogs, and I think a Pitbull puppy, can�t remember the other one. Keely still wouldn�t sit or down on command, and this time I put the Gentle Leader on her. I try not for her to associate the Gentle Leader with the room or with the presence of unfamiliar dogs, so again before class I gave her lots of treats while she saw the other dogs for the first time. Then for the first five minutes of class, I didn�t put the Gentle Leader on her. After five minutes, it was time to start practicing sit-stays, and that�s when I put the Gentle Leader on her, but I did not attach the leash onto the Gentle Leader, but rather the leash remained on her collar. She still would not sit or down on command, so I pushed her physically to do it, but she stayed very well once I got her to sit or down. Then when it was time to go outside to practice Heel, that�s when I attached the leash onto her Gentle Leader. I know she would like to leave the room and go outside, so outside to her at that moment is a positive thing, so I tried to have her associate being lead around with the Gentle Leader with positive thing to her at that moment. Rebekah wanted to add distractions by having the dogs practice Sit, Down, Stay and Heel with the dogs in big circle, and close together in small circle. And also we lined up and took turns weaving in and out of each dog/handler, with our dogs heel by our side. I would say Keely did the best job. Some did pretty well, but the Labs got distracted and tried to sniff around.
The last fifteen minutes of the class was time to go back inside to let the dogs play in the day care room, where the classes are taught. I really don�t think Keely would like to have eight other dogs running crazy around her, especially I think she�s the oldest one in the group. So we just stayed in the store area and practiced sit and down over and over, each for about fifteen times. Then near the end of the fifteen minutes, finally Keely started to sit on command by herself, without treats.
Then it was time to go in for the second class. This class consisted of six other dogs, two Labs, I don�t remember the rest. But Rebekah had told me before class started that this class has not progressed as much as the first Tuesday class did, but she said this is a fun class to watch. Again before class started when the dogs and their owners are filing in, I kept feeding Keely treats. One owner said, �She�s getting her dinner!� I guess she is, because I decided not to feed Keely dinner before we came, so she would appreciate it more when I actually feed her treats. I put away the treats again once Rebekah came in to start the class. Keely did do Sit on command, without treats, during this class. However, she still would not Down on command. We�ll just have to practice that more later this week. This class we did not go outside to do the Heel in a crowd, but rather we just did Heel in medium sized circle around the room. Again Keely was the most well behaved dog in class of course.
I�m so grateful that Rebekah allowed us to take three classes for free. I think other than my being happy that Keely finally decided to Sit on command in unfamiliar environment among unfamiliar dogs without treats, I think another thing she realized is that she�s got it so good with me training her, because I�ve always used positive reinforcement methods with her. All the jerking of the choke chain that she saw with the other dogs probably reminded her how she was trained when she lived with her previous family (her records indicated they had used a choke chain and was recommended by the UGA behaviorist to switch to Gentle Leader). Especially she knew how it feels to be trained on force based methods, I think she appreciates it more that I use only positive reinforcement methods to train her.
Two weeks ago Liana sent me an application from an applicant in Connecticut, who was very interested in Keely. He even emailed Liana specifically to ask about her. I really don�t mind the distance, because who knows, I might end up working up north after graduation. He and I talked on the phone, and we decided that Keely is not a good match for him.