Jake's doing fine, but I know he misses his family too. I walk him for two miles with Keely on campus and play fetch with him at the tennis court for five minutes each day, but I'm sure he would prefer his neighborhood and beautiful backyard. He and Keely are doing great together; actually for the last couple days, I've been able to still feed Keely in the kitchen and have Jake eat right in front of the entrance of the kitchen at the same time, and Keely has no problem with that (growled the first day, but last two days she was okay). Also he got Keely to play fetch a little bit, and I think he got her excited enough, that "she" actually wanted to play with him, but he just wanted to play fetch at the time. John and Kate are right, I think he would play fetch for 24 hours straight if he could. Jake's such a sweet boy, both to humans and to other dogs, and he hasn't bothered Anastasia at all. I'm sure he's looking forward to see his parents tonight. I'll miss him though.
I emailed Ed and Barbara about Tuesday. I told them we'll try to leave Auburn late Monday afternoon. As to when we'll arrive on Tuesday morning, let's plan it around 7:30 AM, before it gets too hot for us to do some outside training. And I asked them to ask their neighbor to see if we could borrow their dog, the one they said Keely will see often, for maybe 15 minutes. It would be great if your neighbor would let either Ed or Barbara handle their dog, because I don't know the neighbors and don't know the level of their obedience training skill, I'm not sure if they would be able to control their dog when we are training. I want to show Ed and Barbara how to introduce Keely to other dogs, especially one she will see often. Keely gets along better with male dogs, tolerates more than she does with other female dogs, I guess that's another way to put it. Even if the neighbor's dog is a female, if we do it right, we can probably get her to at least tolerate the dog when they are both outside too.
Barbara emailed and said that they went to Petsmart last night and bought a wire crate. She said they will look for some of the treats I recommended later this weekend.
Keely and I got to Millie's house about 15 minutes before the appointed time. As I was getting treats out of the car, Millie, her husband, Craig, and their dog, Freckles, came out to meet us. Keely knew something was up since this morning, I think she could feel I was a little anxious, and she didn't sleep at all during the one and half hour drive. When Millie and Craig came up to my car, Keely didn't jump all over them like she did with Jake's parents in my apartment last night, but she did stand still for Millie and Craig to pet her. Then Freckles came slowly walking toward us. They sniffed each other for about five seconds, then Keely stood still while Freck sniffed her. I think Freck's dog-savvy enough that he realized Keely was getting a little uncomfortable about it (I still hadn't taken out the treats from the car yet), so he walked away, so she didn't growled at all. Then I took the treats out and gave one to Keely. It was very hot outside (even though the house is right by the lake), so we went inside.
The first thing Keely saw after we got through the front door was a mirror reflection of herself on a livingroom decoration. She stared at herself for a couple seconds and walked away. Keely was not shy at all at this point, and walked around all over the house to check things out. Millie mentioned that Keely definitely seems more confident today (Millie met Keely last time in March I think), and I told Millie that I think in the last month or so, Keely has finally realized that I'm using positive reinforcement training only and would never hurt her, and I think with that she has finally learned to trust me a lot more (and this reflects on her behavior in public too). Millie gave some of the Fourth of July dog cookies I made for Freck, and Keely went to Millie for treats also. I showed Keely the treats I had (regular training biscuits), and I gave her one.
Then we went to the den area to wait for the Davenports. Millie said she asked earlier this week that if there would be any children at the meeting, because Freckles would growl if he gets startled, especially if he�s suddenly awaken from sleep. I told Millie that Keely sometimes does too. Millie said Freck�s deaf, but I told her Keely�s hearing seems to be fine, and when she saw Keely walking around her house exploring, she said yes she agrees. Freck has arthritis so he lied down on the floor most of the time. Keely was still walking and sniffing around, then finally when she saw I was petting Freck, she came over also. They didn't cuddle together, but their backs were squeezed right next to each other, while Millie and I rubbed their tummies and talked about dogs. We did this for about 10 minutes until the door bell rang. And I put Keely's leash on her.
Ed and Barbara and their kids, Erica and Mark, came into the house. They brought bouquet of flowers, one of each for Millie and me. That was very sweet of them. Barbara and Erica immediately bent down to pet Keely when they saw her. Then all of us went to sit in the livingroom. I think there were so many strangers showing up at one time that Keely was getting a little insecure, so she started walking toward the front door. So I led her back to the couch, gave her some treats so she would feel better being around the Davenports. Then Barbara came and sat right next to us and started petting Keely again. I gave her some dog treats and she gave them to Keely. I gave Barbara more and she shared them with Erica. Keely sat still enough for Barbara and Erica to pet her, but she still wanted to get out of the front door. So we walked to the other side of the livingroom, I gave Ed some treats also, and he fed her some. Ed gave some to Mark, and Mark fed some to Keely also. Then we sat in the livingroom more so we could talk. Ed talked to Craig about "current affairs", while Mark listened. I talked to Barbara about Keely more, and Erica and Millie joined our conversation. Then everybody joined our conversation about Keely. The Davenports think Keely's the perfect size and that she's so pretty and cute and very well mannered. Freck also was in the livingroom, and the Davenports were a little surprised how well the two dogs got along together; Millie told them that Keely does not see Freck as a threat and that also I've been working with Keely on her socialization.
Then Barbara asked if she could take Keely out for a walk, so she could get a feel on her leash etiquette, since Barbara will be the one walking the dog. So I had Keely on leash and Barbara with us. I showed her the "stand like a tree" technique, and emphasized that it doesn't require jerking on the leash. But Keely pulled a lot today, I think she was confused and just wanted to get out of there. So Barbara and I spent maybe 15 minutes out in the sun walking Keely, stopping every five feet or so, as Keely kept pulling us down the street (even though my car was in Millie and Craig's driveway). About 1/4 way, I had Barbara try with Keely. Still we had hard time getting her not to pull, and I told Barbara that usually Keely learns faster than today, but I think she was just a little insecure today. Barbara said, "Now I know why you said to take her to obedience class", and she seems to completely understand that just because Keely sees me as her leader, it doesn't mean she will automatically see them as leaders. As we were walking back toward the house, Keely pulled toward the house. We think she was getting thirsty at this point. Millie and Erica were waiting for us in the front yard.
When we got back to the house, Millie and I showed Keely where the water bowls are, and Keely drank some. Millie said she likes that when the Davenports talked about their English Setter, Maggie, they kept saying we did this and that with her, and this shows the dog was very much part of their family. All of us humans went back to the couch to talk some more, and Keely just lied down near the front door and went to sleep. Ed and Barbara and Erica talked more about Maggie. And we talked more about Keely's needs also, half of which pretty much just what we had talked about over the phone on Monday night and also what I emailed them on Tuesday. Mark asked if I think Keely would be okay if he runs with her, and I said I haven't tried running with her, but I think it'll work with Keely. Millie said with some dogs, you have to train them not to step in front so the runner won�t trip over the dog. Barbara said she had ordered a small bag of the Drs Foster and Smith food and it has already arrived. They hadn't gotten a crate yet but will before they get the dog. And I emphasized no shock collar for invisible fence and also using only positive reinforcement methods and trainer. But I also told them about Keely's growling if she's awaken suddenly by my hugging her. I asked them if they have any other questions, they said no. And I asked them if they would like to adopt Keely, and they said yes. I asked them if Tuesday early morning would be okay (Sunday is too early for me, and I might have to work on Monday), so I could show them how I train Keely, including a walk in the neighborhood, and they said yes, all of them will be there, but they will have to take Erica to the airport at 2 PM on Tuesday. But I told them that's fine. So the plan is Keely and I will leave Auburn Monday late afternoon, and stay at a hotel near Nashville on Monday night, and get to the Davenport's house around 7:30 AM on Tuesday. Before the Davenports left, I went near Keely, and Barbara and Erica were with me. I tapped Keely's body, and she suddenly awoke and was a little startled, and I told them, "See this is why you can't just go up and hug her and scare her when she's deep asleep."
After the Davenports left, Millie and Craig asked me if Keely and I like to hang out longer, and I said I would like to see the lake. So Millie took us down to the boat house, while Craig and Freck stayed in the den to watch soccer on TV. The property is beautiful. The wave was pretty high today because of all the boating. It was so funny how startled Keely was as she watched and listened to the water waves for the first time. She was a little scared, but she kept on watching. We got her to stand on the sand, but when the waves came in, Keely quickly walked back. It was just too funny! She's such a princess. Millie said Keely's very dainty, just like a proper lady.
Millie then suggested trying their pool, since Keely's not interested in "natural water". So we went to their pool. Millie got knee-deep into the pool, and we slowly got Keely in there also, didn't push her in, just one step on the stairs at a time. When Keely felt comfortable on one level, Millie carried her into the next (I didn't get into the water because I was wearing sweatpants and sneakers). Then when Millie put Keely on the third step, Keely had to do a little dog paddling and got out of the pool. We let her shake off some water and tried again. This time, Millie was able to push Keely slowly off the third step on the stairs and Keely did some beautiful strokes, and after some encouragement, Keely was able to find the stairs and get out of the pool by herself. Millie went to get some towels and I wiped Keely down. With the pool and the towel, Keely just looked like a princess sitting by the pool having fun.
On our drive back in the car, Keely just slept the whole way.
Monday, July 3, 2006
Keely and I went to the vet clinic this morning to get her weighed and get her vet records. It turned out they are not open today. However, we had perfect timing and the vet techs were there to walk the kenneled dogs. So I asked them to do me a favor and to help out a foster dog by copying Keely�s records for me. They were really nice and said no problem. Also I weighed Keely on the scale it, it says 35 pounds (it was 35 point something, but I didn�t have time to wait for it to stabilize). So Keely should not gain anymore weight. Then I dropped Keely back at home and went to the copy center to make copies of her records and I made a copy of the �Gift of Growling� article and of the article that says why alpha roll is bad, for Ed and Barbara and Erica and Mark to read.
Also I gave Keely a bath today, and cleaned her ears and clipped her nails. So Ed and Barbara won�t need to worry about ear cleaning and nail clipping for the first two weeks.